A guest blog by Jackie Marshall.
Torn up rulebooks
We’re in an era of disruptive business models. We’ve witnessed the impact of online shopping on high street retailers, effects of digital downloads on the music industry and proliferation of media options challenging the advertising marketplace. Business models operated by Uber and Airbnb have encouraged us to broaden our thinking about our own future business approach. Against this backdrop, innovation becomes both exciting due to the opportunities opening up and necessary to protect our businesses.
The food sector is no stranger to this, with changes taking place widely being described by industry experts as ‘unprecedented’. For example:
- Consumers are changing the way they shop, increasingly buying little and often rather than a large weekly shop.
- Food discount chains Aldi and Lidl now have more than 10.4% of the UK grocery market (up from 6.7% in August 20131) and their share is continuing to grow.
- Consumers eating out of home more frequently is driving the expansion in coffee shops and the convenience sector.
- Technology has enabled online shopping to reach 6% of total grocery sector sales in 2015 with sales expected to rise a further 73% by 20202
- Increased consumer interest in good quality ingredients, health and nutrition are fuelling the increasing popularity of ‘Artisan’ products.
Absolute focus in turbulent times
In any sector, keeping a clear focus on a single-minded proposition is paramount. We are overloaded with information, facts and opportunities. It’s tempting to become over-complicated when generating new ideas. In fact, simple ideas are often the most successful. I’ve picked three examples that illustrate some of the best ideas and innovations I’ve spotted from food producers:
Look for the obvious
Simple product ideas can often be staring us in the face. Nimisha Raja, founder of Nim’s Fruit & Veg Crisps came up with the idea for her successful fruit crisps range when she owned a coffee shop. Noticing that parents wanted to buy fruit for their children, whereas the children wanted crisps, she was inspired to combine the two. What makes her Fruit & Veg Crisps successful is the painstaking measures she takes to ensure they meet the healthy credentials so important to the parents whilst still making them appealing to children. By producing them through an air-drying process, they retain as much of their nutritional content as possible while keeping the crunchiness of crisps.
Offering a premium version of a high-volume standard product
Standard products are staples that we all have in our cupboards, for example, tomato ketchup. Stokes tomato ketchup has around 30% more tomato content than other leading competitors and is therefore positioned at a higher price point as a premium product. A basic tomato recipe will usually appeal to a greater number of people than a recipe with other added ingredients such as herbs, spices etc. This is because there will always be some people who have a dislike for those chosen added ingredients. Therefore, whilst there will be a role for these products to add variety within a range, a basic, yet premium tomato ketchup will attract the maximum sales.
Execute at the highest standard to stay ahead
Nom Noms World Food, responded to consumers needs when launching their healthy, internationally inspired alternative to traditional ready meals. They set the objective of producing ready meals with carefully blended spice combinations to avoid adding any sugar or salt yet ensuring they achieved the tastiest meals available. In addition, communications right through from the packaging convey travel around the world exploring different cultures and tastes giving a meaningful depth to their proposition, positioning it as a higher standard than other ready meals, which goes beyond the product itself.
Whatever your industry sector, you can be certain that things won’t stay the same. You have to change to seize opportunities and protect your business. Whatever way you choose to innovate, maintain an absolute clarity, focus on simple ideas and execute them to the highest standard.
Jackie Marshall has a wealth of experience working in the food sector and is now engaged as Partnerships Manager, Corporate and Philanthropy at Diabetes UK. You can email Jackie at jackie.marshall@diabetes.org.uk.
- Source: Kantar Worldpanel 12 w/e shares as at 24.04.16 vs 18.08.13 http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/en/grocery-market-share/great-britain/snapshot
- Source: Mintel http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/retail-press-centre/29-of-uk-online-grocery-shoppers-are-shopping-for-groceries-more-online-now-than-a-year-ago
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