Question

Topic: Strategy

How Do I Market A Food Product?

Posted by joedc2013 on 2/13/2014 at 10:05 AM ET 250 Points
What are the necessary steps to take my food product concepts to the supermarket shelves? I'm an independent product developer with little experience in this sector. Thanks
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  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 2/13/2014 at 10:34 AM Member
    The term "food product" is a tad vague.

    What KIND of food? Selling to what kind of buyer? With what kind of inventory turn? At what wholesale price? On what terms? With what kind of purchase frequency? With what kind of shelf life? With what kind of shipping and storage requirements? Who will buy this "food" product? Why will they buy it?
  • Posted by sarvavelamuri on 2/13/2014 at 11:23 AM Accepted
    Hello!
    I would think first you would need approval from the health authority to say that your product is 'safe'.
    Then you would need to take samples of your products to the various supermarkets and ask them to list it . Give them good incentive on their purchase i.e. you would have to sell them at a particular price- and recommend their retail price. You would need to come up with further incentives like - buy 10 cases and get 2 free.
    Good luck with the new food product !
  • Posted by joedc2013 on 2/13/2014 at 12:04 PM Author
    Thanks guys for your input. I introduced the subject on general terms, but one idea is for the baby and child food market; a reinvention of fresh and healthy recipes with funky packaging. The other is for the pizza market. My aim is to find a company that finds the products exciting and then look to license, with all the logistics sorted by them and myself as a consultant... Food for thought!
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 2/13/2014 at 12:45 PM Accepted
    First, you need a starving crowd of proven buyers. Then, you need to test the marketplace for product viability: there is no point in rolling out any food product unless you have proof of concept.
  • Posted by Moriarty on 2/13/2014 at 4:04 PM Accepted
    The way to start is with a small Display Network campaign - targeting your customers. Those who click your ad are those who are interested. Reverse-engineering the information you get from this campaign you can then work out how to proceed.

    for example, you could then have a campaign in a small town - with coupons in the local newspapers and magazines. Retailers would be informed that this would be happening and they'd be paid the full price for the coupons they hand in; that way they'd be encouraged to stock your product.

    That way it need not cost you a fortune.
  • Posted on 2/13/2014 at 8:24 PM Accepted
    Food concepts are a dime a dozen. And the companies who might be interested have R&D kitchens of their own. The chances they'd be interested in your ideas are slim-to-none. I hate to be discouraging, but I wouldn't be doing you any favors if I painted an overly rosy picture ... which I may have done already.

    If you really want to pursue this, you'll need to create a test of some kind -- in-market or with a research panel -- to demonstrate a level of consumer acceptance ... of the concept and of the product prototype. It won't be cheap or easy.
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