My blog focuses on Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The food industry is in itself a multi-faceted industry and there are competing brands. The following contributed post is entitled, How Food & Beverage Brands Can Compete With Supermarket Own-Brand Products.
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Photo by iMin Technology: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-scanning-qr-code-on-jar-of-pickles-12935049/
You may have noticed the rise of “supermarket own brand” products as of late. Thanks to having all the distribution methods already set up, supermarket brands have realized that not only can they stock the usual brands of products in their stores, but also create their own, and pass those savings onto the consumer to stay competitive.
In some respects, this can very much expanded. You can now find supermarket-own eggs, cheese, breads, even homeware and electrical product lines. Of course, much of this is manufactured alongside other partners depending on what the item is. But because these can be cheaper (and sometimes even pretty identical) to brands that you’ve been paying for all this time, it’s no wonder they’ve become more popular.
As a food or beverage company (perhaps both), this can present a problem. You may still have guaranteed store space thanks to your sales volume, but how can you compete with supermarkets that already have space on their shelves for their own goods? It’s not always clear. In this post, then, we’ll discuss how certain firms are trying to compete, aided with the advice of F&B consulting agents.
Let’s begin:
Make Your Value Proposition Clear
People need to understand within seconds why they should pick your product over the cheaper shop brand sitting right next to it on the shelf, and it doesn’t really matter if your ingredients come from somewhere special, your recipe has been perfected over decades, or your manufacturing process creates a better texture that people can taste.
The point is making that difference so obvious that customers don’t have to guess what they’re paying extra for. If someone can’t explain to their friend why your product costs more, they’ll probably just grab the cheaper option and move on with their shopping.
Add Romance To Your Branding
Store brands look functional and boring because they’re designed to be generic and appeal to everyone at once. Your brand gets to tell a story that connects with people emotionally, like how your grandmother’s recipe inspired the whole company or how you source ingredients from family farms that have been growing the same crops for generations.
People buy stories just as much as they buy products, especially when they want to feel good about supporting something that feels authentic and meaningful instead of just grabbing the most convenient option available. Use that if you can.
Deliver Your USP
Having a unique selling point means nothing if your product doesn’t back up the claims you’re making on the packaging. If you say your chocolate is smoother, it better melt differently in people’s mouths than everything else they can buy. If you claim your sauce has more complex flavors, people should be able to taste that complexity when they try it at home.
They need to be convinced to spend that extra, which is why consulting agents know that the biggest mistake companies make is promising something special but delivering something that tastes just like the cheaper alternatives, which destroys any mystique or magic, and makes customers feel stupid for spending extra money.
With this advice, we hope you’ll continue to compete with store-brand goods.
