Category Archives: retail food

A Pop-up revival in retail marketing – n°2

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0a12719a9afee4890dd8842682a896cdThe pop-up phenomenon dates back 2004, when fashion brand Comme des Garcons opened a guerrilla store in Berlin, followed by a long list of known brands, such as ony Ericksson, Levi’s, Breil, Uniqlo or the most recent ones of Apple, Nokia, and Adidas Originals. (full article here)

Other interesting articles have been published last year such as: Oliva e Marino – The pop-up store of Pavesi, Barilla and H&M in the quicksand – A very short pop-up story.

Pop-up are still interesting as marketing tool?

Are they a sustainable business?

What is the difference between a pop-up store and a “movable structure” like a small truck selling food?

Can we still consider it a new trend?

What can be done next?

Well, you kind opinion is very much appreciate because I think that within the general economic crisis, we need to find a new way to engage with consumers and to be able to drive investment beyond the life span of the pop-up store. So, any idea?

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Oliva e Marino – The pop-up store of Pavesi, Barilla.

It sometimes happens to find something new just around the corner.  Just think about Bottega di Oliva e Marino, Pavesi pop-up store that opened in Riccione on June 28.  At first glance, it seemed interesting to me for both its stylish design and brilliant business marketing strategy.

Everything revolves around “aperitivo”, the happy hour.
A very successful Italian format that is currently being copied everywhere else abroad.  But how did Pavesi pop-up store by Barilla impact Riccione?  Tourists certainly enjoy it because of its highly competitive promotional prices, but the managers of nearby restaurants and bathing establishments are far from being happy.

In fact, the pop-up store is situated just in front of two beach bars and next to a highly popular restaurant. But there is more.  It is located just in the heart of one of the most convenient paying car parks of the sea front, the best place for tourists to leave their car without worrying.  

Was local government good at promoting equality? What would have happened if the same proposal had been presented by an ordinary citizen rather than by Barilla?   Would the proposal have been welcomed?

I don’t think so.

Join DESITA at the FOOD REVOLUTION DAY!

May 19th is the FOOD REVOLUTION DAY and DESITA has obviously joined the Jaime Oliver Foundation’s campaign for a healthier food on public places – schools and workplaces.

Food Revolution Day on 19 May is a chance for people who love food to come together to share information, talents and resources; to pass on their knowledge and highlight the world’s food issues. All around the globe, people will work together to make a difference. Food Revolution Day is about connecting with your community through events at schools, restaurants, local businesses, dinner parties and farmers’ markets. We want to inspire change in people’s food habits and to promote the mission for better food and education for everyone.

We at DESITA feel very close to Jaime Oliver Foundation‘s mission – “(..) educating, empowering and inspiring people to make better food choices” – being our ECOFFEE project also about healthier food choices based on sustainability.

So what are you waiting for? Join us at the FOOD REVOLUTION DAY!

And if you are passing by Milan from next 19 to 27 May, you will be welcomed by the fourth edition of the the Milan Food Week, celebrating the pleasures of the table at selected shops, art galleries, showrooms, bars and restaurants in the heart of the city.

Art, music and debates on the theme of food accompany a huge variety of tastings. This festival devoted to quality foods and wines counts more than 200 events and activities also involving some public organizations. Visit the event website for more information about this “tasty” event! www.milanofoodweek.com

 

Tesco and RSPB to protect rainforests around the world

UK retailer Tesco has formed a partnership with Europe’s largest wildlife conservation charity – the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) – that aims to protect rainforests around the world.

In addition to raising funds, the “Together For Trees” campaign includes a competition to identify a “Rainforest Reporter,” who will travel to one of the projects in the RSPB’s rainforest program and experience first-hand the efforts to slow deforestation.

Together For Trees aims to raise over £1million for the RSPB in its first year. Every time a Tesco customer brings in a re-usable shopping bag, he or she will be able to donate the vouchers or points Tesco awards through its green Clubcard membership. Additionally, customers have the option to donate cash, and Tesco will contribute £75,000 from the sale of its new Together For Trees reusable bags.

Funds raised by the partnership will support conservation work such as the replanting of native trees in areas damaged by illegal logging, providing equipment for researchers and conservationists, and helping local, forest-dependent people to improve their livelihoods in a sustainable way.

“Our customers will trust this scheme because it brings together the UK’s most popular retailer with the UK’s most popular conservation organization,” said David North, Tesco UK Corporate Affairs Director.

The money raised by Together For Trees will be spent on the RSPB’s rainforest projects across the world, including Harapan Rainforest in Indonesia, Gola Rainforest in West Africa and Centre Hills National Park in Montserrat, a UK Overseas Territory in the West Indies. Rainforests such as these are home to more than two thirds of the planet’s land-based creatures, three quarters of all endangered bird species and have more than one billion of the world’s poorest people depending on them to survive.

In the search for the Rainforest Reporter, Together for Trees has partnered with Amazon explorer and European Adventurer of the Year, Ed Stafford. (Stafford participated in a live web chat Thursday morning, hosted by The Guardian.) People can apply to be the Rainforest Reporter on the Together for Trees website.

Tesco has set a goal to become a zero carbon business by 2050. In 2011, the Carbon Disclosure Project named Tesco the top retailer in the world for its efforts in tackling climate change. However, last month, Tesco abandoned its industry leading effort to place carbon labels on all of its products

via Tesco Raises Funds for RSPB, Opens Competition for ‘Rainforest Reporter’ | Sustainable Brands.

A more natural Coles for healthier consumers

Despite extensive research conducted by the Food Standards Australia proving there are no adverse affects to consuming products with added MSG (monosodium glutamate) and artificial colourings, Coles has removed both ingredients in direct response to consumer concerns.

Lydia Buchtmann, communication adviser at Food Standards Australia, told FoodNavigator-Asia that the government food regulator has conducted “rigorous safety reviews of MSG and colours showing that they are safe for the general population.”

She added that it is possible a few consumers may experience intolerances but that they would not be life threatening like major allergies.

The retail giant’s private label range is now entirely free from artificial colours and MSG, following a five-year project to reformulate all of its own food and beverage brands.

‘Listening to our consumers’
“Our customers are clearly concerned by food additives and the effect they believe they have on their health. A significant number have indicated that they or their children have experienced reactions to artificial colours and MSG,” Jackie Healing, quality manager for Coles said.

This move is simply a reaction to this, Healing added.

The supermarket noted that research showed 91% of customers were worried about consuming products with added MSG and artificial colours, with 76% avoiding such products.

Vanessa Walles, marketing manager at natural ingredients supplier Chr Hansen Australia, said “Coles are being pro-active by taking this stance, it is not because they have to,” and consumers will appreciate this.“It certainly sends a very positive message that Coles is listening to consumer needs and moving with the market expectation of natural colours,” Walles said.

Natural moves
There are no laws against the use of MSG and artificial colourings in food and beverage products in Australia.

Food manufacturers are just required to label a food when MSG is added, either by name or by its food additive code number 621. Walles noted however, that consumer pressure fuelled by media focus on artificial colours and MSG has created a market demand for products free from these additives.

“Natural is the way the colours market is moving”, Walles said.

Add to this, the Southampton Six ruling in the EU where manufacturers using artificial colours have to provide the warning label, ‘may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children’, and there is a burgeoning pressure towards natural products, she said.

Similarly Aldi’s removal of artificial colours may have been an influencing factor, she added.

“Many branded products have already made the switch from artificial to natural colours, however there are still many products to follow suit,” Walles said.

via Coles ‘goes natural’ for consumers.

Freshly-baked baguettes when bakeries are closed? YES!

Vending machines are usually associated with long-life and processed packaged foods, to be conveniently purchased at any time. However, an entrepreneurial French baker recently rolled out 24-hour automated baguette dispensers next to his two bakeries in Paris and Hombourg-Haut, which ensure he can sell his baguettes even after his shops have closed.

Jean-Louis Hecht came up with the idea when, living above his boulanger, he was disturbed countless times by people wanting to buy bread after he had closed shop. The bread is partially cooked before being put into the machine — which cost EUR 50,000 — and finished off when a customer orders; delivering a hot, freshly-baked baguette within seconds. Each stick costs EUR 1, and when the machine debuted in January the baker sold 1,600 baguettes, reaching sales of 4,500 in July. Hecht told the Associated Press “This is the bakery of tomorrow. It is answering a real need. People who work at night or early in the morning can get their fresh bread. To me it’s a public utility.” The video below demonstrates how the baguette dispensers work:

Hecht puts himself at a financial advantage to his competitors, who close over public holidays and after business hours. Is there a demand for similar fresh convenient food in your area?

via Vending machine dispenses freshly-baked baguettes | Springwise.

Shipping Containers: a new Solution to Food Deserts?

A group of Seattle entrepreneurs has come up with one solution to the urban food desert problem, and it doesn’t involve adding traditional supermarkets to underserved areas. Their new venture, Stockbox Grocers, is taking the favorite building block of the green-building movement—the shipping container—and adapting it into a miniature food emporium, packed from floor to roof with fresh produce and other staples.

“Our goal is to bring food back to communities, and focus on communities that don’t currently have good access to food and are heavily dependent on public transportation,” says founder and owner Carrie Ferrence. This week, Stockbox celebrates the opening of a 160-square-foot prototype store in a parking lot in a neighborhood where corner stores are the only source of food. Up to five customers can shop at once, said Ferrence, and only one person is needed to staff the operation.

This first store—housed in a temporary structure that’s actually smaller than a shipping container—is intended as a six-to-eight-week experiment to feel out the needs of the community and gather feedback. “A lot of people who come in are breaking down the myth that people of low income and mixed income don’t want access to organic or natural food,” Ferrence says.  By the end of next year, she and partner Jacqueline Gjurgevich hope to have four permanent shipping container stores up and running.

“Everyone’s really excited to have a grocery store in the community,” Ference says. “The community’s been asking for years.”

via Stockbox Grocer’s Food Desert Solution: The Shipping Container – Lifestyle – GOOD.

In Detroit, community soup dinners fund local creative projects

It’s no longer uncommon to see creative endeavors funded by the crowds. What is unusual about Detroit Soup’s approach, however, is that the funding — and selecting — of projects takes place via a monthly public dinner.

Those in the Detroit area who are interested in participating can simply turn up for one of Detroit Soup’s dinners on the second Sunday of the month. For USD 5 they get soup, salad, bread and pie, as well as the opportunity to hear four creative project proposals and vote for the one they think most deserves to be funded. The money raised that night — typically between USD 600 and USD 900 — is then given to the proposal that wins the most votes.

There are actually several other like-minded efforts in the Detroit area, such as The Dearborn Soup, and there is a guide to similar granting dinners around the world at SundaySoup.org. Social entrepreneurs far and wide: time to get involved!

via In Detroit, community soup dinners fund local creative projects | Springwise.

Meet us at SIGEP!

The next days are going to be very busy ones for us at DESITA, ECOFFEE and showfood. SIGEP – the 33rd International Exhibition for the Artisan Production of Gelato, Pastry, Confectionery and Bakery – will take place in Rimini from Jan.21st to 25th and we will participate meeting our current customers and prospects.

Artisan confectionery is one of the sectors for which Italy is famous worldwide. According to Confartigianato, between January and August 2011, Italian companies in this sector exported products for a value of 224 million euros, with an increase of 8.6% compared to the first eight months of 2010. The country that is fondest of Italian delicacies is France, followed by Germany and Austria. Since the beginning of the year, Italy´s ´cousins´ from the other side of the Alps have bought 50.3 million euros of confectionery (equal to 22.4% Italian exports of this type of product). Italy exported 35.8 million euros of pastry produce t o Germany (15.9% of total exports), whereas exports of confectionery to Austria totalled 16.8 million euros (7.5% of the total).

These results were achieved also thanks to the contribution of SIGEP, the world´s most important artisan confectionery expo, with its 90,000 m2 of exhibition space 850 companies taking part and approximately 20,000 foreign trade visitors over the five days.

The international success is the result of a precise strategy in event organization, with participants from the five continents, in sales communication and advertising and in the widespread network of relations set up through the years. A precise project is dedicated to internationalization activity – Top Buyers from 5 continents – which focuses on the qualified attendance of trade members from nations selected along with the exhibitors. Plus, to schedule effective business meetings before SIGEP, by means of the online Marketplace platform, precise daily agendas of meetings are programmed between Italian and foreign trade members, bringing together supply and demand.

With a view to SIGEP 2012 and to favour the arrival of foreign buyers, Rimini Fiera foreign marketing office concentrated on the so-called BRICST countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey), as well as on the neighbouring nations: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ecuador, Singapore, United States, Malaysia and Qatar.

Further promotional activity was carried out in Morocco, France, Arab Emirates and Canada

Also worth stressing are the numerous contacts made by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany for the promotion of the SIGEP Neo program during SIGEP 2012. The major German Chambers of Commerce and Artisan Business were contacted and several of them expressed interest in divulging Rimini Fiera´s invitation among their ´young´ member companies. Also on behalf of the most important German associations there is willingness to distribute invitations to the sector´s new ´recruits´: many regional bakers associations, such as the Verband des Rheinischen BBckerhandwerks, BBckerinnungsverband Hessen and associations that include large-scale bakeries such as the Verband Deutscher Groobbckereien, just like the Uniteis e.V., whose members are all the ice cream parlours in Germany, have confirmed that they will distribute the program among their members.

Please feel free to contact me normanatdesitadotit if you want to arrange an appointment – our schedule is very busy but we will do our best to get to know you in person.

The People’s Supermarket

Located in the heart of London this cooperative non-profit is unique. Managed and owned by the members, the shop operates on a membership system, it offers local and seasonal products for the lowest prices possible.

Design agency Unreal was responsible for developing its branding, with in mind the low budget constraint of the cooperative. For the people, by the people.

Set up in Spring 2010 by chef Arthur Potts-Dawson, retailer Kate Wickes-Bull and an army of others, The People’s Supermarket is a community-based shop that’s managed and owned by members and open to all. It’s based just around the corner from Unreal’s studio, on Lamb’s Conduit St, London WC1 and takes its format from the popular co-operative ‘Park Slope’ in Brooklyn, NYC.

In addition to the membership scheme, much of the produce in the shop is locally sourced, seasonal and sustainable, meaning they stock the best food at the lowest possible prices. The story of the supermarket will be broadcast in its own Channel 4 documentary, due to air in early 2011.

The People’s BrandAfter approaching the Supermarket to design some launch posters, we were tasked with developing the brand, which needed to reflect the co-op’s core values of being communal, affordable and democratic without appearing too virtuous or elitist. A full identity program was required including logo, stationery suite, advertising, packaging and brand guidelines.

(All photography shot on location at The People’s Supermarket by supermarket members Liz and Max of Haarala Hamilton photography. More information at http://www.thepeoplessupermarket.org & http://www.unreal-uk.com)

via The People’s Supermarket [Branding] | Trendland: Fashion Blog & Trend Magazine.