Archive for the ‘Food Industry Happenings’ Category
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Brand loyalty only happens when you know your audience and what they want. So, when should a company end a practice they’ve been using for many years to reach out to and communicate with its consumers? When its consumers tell it to!
According to a BizReport article by Helen Leggatt, Ben & Jerry’s has stopped sending its email newsletters because their customers expressed that they would rather be reached through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
I think this was a very smart move for Ben & Jerry’s. They discovered that a long –standing business practice of sending emails to its customers was no longer effective and therefore, are no longer wasting time by continuing to send them. Now they can spend more time enhancing their communication efforts on Facebook, Twitter and their website. Using these social media outlets allows Ben & Jerry’s to really engage with their consumers the way they want to be engaged. Ben & Jerry’s showed that they value their consumers’ opinions and as a result, responded to their needs. Consumers who feel like they are valued and have a voice are much more likely to be loyal to the brand. They will always come back for more…and in this case it’s ice cream!
Tags: Ben & Jerry's, brand loyalty, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Food Industry Happenings, Trends | View Comments
Monday, May 31st, 2010
Consumers who have had their tastes expanded by celebrity chef’s who continually push the boundaries, the Food Network and growing availability of more ethnic foods. Thanks to this, they are demanding more intensity and variety in everything from potato chips to chewing gum to beverages and more. Food marketers need to stay up with this important trend. You can learn more in an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal titled “A Taste for Hotter, Mintier, Fruitier” .
Tags: food, Hot, Spice, Taste
Posted in Food Industry Happenings, Marketing, Shared Articles, Trends, Uncategorized | View Comments
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Consumers have now settled into a new level of practicality when it comes to food shopping. While they still may prefer branded products, they are no longer willing to just walk the aisles without regard to prices. They are now looking for deals and special offers. Even Whole Foods has started to discount in an effort to reclaim lost customers and change their image away from being known as “Whole Paycheck”. This creates a challenge for brands who have to be cautious with how and how often they discount to prevent erosion of their brand image. The front cover of USA Today had an in depth article about this phenomenon.
Tags: Consumers, Discount, food, Pricing
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Sunday, April 18th, 2010
We all know that more and more consumers are reading the nutritional labels of packaged food contents for calories, sugar, salt and fat. Now more and more of them are also reading the ingredients. And the media is telling them what to look for as in this article from Healthy Living. What are you doing to eliminate ingredients that consumers perceive as unhealthy? The time to act is now.
Tags: food, Ingredients, Labels, Packaging
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Saturday, April 17th, 2010
For years we have watched as the use of coupons has declined except for a temporary rise during tough economic times. The internet started to turn this around and turned the tables on manufacturers as heavy coupon users figured out how to game the system in ways the manufacturer never intended. They figured out to combine offers and obtain coupons that weren’t meant for them, much to the consternation of manufacturer’s. Now things are changing as manufacturer’s have figured out how to take advantage of this trend. The use of online coupons is rising which is saving consumers a lot of money. The big change is now how manufacturers have figured out how to best use the medium of online coupons which is very different than old school FSI’s. Online coupons now allow manufacturer’s to gather a tremendous amount of information about each coupons user that can be used for research and for future sales growth by even better targeting and offer customization. Read the whole story in the New York Times
Tags: Coupons, Online
Posted in Food Industry Happenings, Marketing, Research, Shared Articles, Trends | View Comments
Monday, April 5th, 2010
There is an interesting graph in the NY Times that shows how the US leads all other nations in pre-packaged foods. This graph shows me three things. First there is a tremendous opportunity for US based food producers to become global and export the convenience of pre-packaged foods to the rest of the world. As the economic picture for citizens of many foreign countries continues to improve, just like the demand for cars is rising, so can the demand for pre-packaged food. The second observation is that we should plan on seeing more foreign food producers entering the US market due to its size. And the third observation is I think we will see continuing pressure from many areas, including the government, to improve the nutritional value of pre-packaged foods as the article also points out how many of these foods are loaded with salt, fat and sugar. Read more here
Tags: brands, food, grocery, Marketing, national brands
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Pride, that’s what I felt as I entered a Moscone Center abuzz with activity and optimism. For all the talk of the economy’s handcuffing of the food industry, gloom and doom were not exhibiting at this year’s Fancy Food Show. It felt great to be a part of and witness two full floors of exhibitors, crowded aisles, and a rejuvinated attitude amongst people who make things happen in the food biz. And some people are really making it happen, a few that stood out to me are noted below. (more…)
Tags: Activate Water, Fancy Food Show, Kind Snacks, Vosges
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Saturday, January 30th, 2010
An almost obituary like article from the Wall Street Journal shows how regional candy brands are disappearing. This is the same fate of brands in many grocery categories as they are squeezed off the shelf by growing national and private label brands. Many of these regional brands are family owned and they have given up the fight as they ride the cash cow down to the sad end. A hopeful sign is in the beer category where many small independent brands are making life miserable for the larger national brands. They do this with youthful enthusiasm, a willingness to take risks and a sincere belief that they just simply make a better product.
Tags: brands, candy, food, grocery, Regional
Posted in Food Industry Happenings, regional brands | View Comments