Tag Archives: competition

What Brands Have To Do

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Pavone Food

The growth in private label and retailers’ commitment to SKU rationalization is the perfect storm for national brands.  It’s a challenge to step up–to innovate and differentiate.

Shoppers consider product quality, taste, convenience and value when deciding between food and beverage items.  Brands that don’t stand out in several of these categories are in trouble; they’re probably going to lose to private label or be eliminated by the retailer or both.

In order to fend off the private label onslaught, brands have to 1) stand for something 2) listen closely to consumers and 3) be a solution.

Maybe your product is values-driven (i.e., you’re using exclusively sustainable ingredients and processes while limiting your carbon footprint and supporting fair trade).   Maybe your product represents extreme luxury and decadence by sourcing only the world’s finest (fill in the blank:  chocolate, cheese, century-aged cognac etc.) Quite possibly your product has the reputation of being trusted by consumers for its consistent quality and reliability. Maybe your product is simply fun, synonymous with a good time.

Knowing what your product stands for is a start, but what’s essential is that consumers know.  Effective communication with them is key.  Read more...

Posted in General | Tagged brands, competition, national brands, private label | Leave a comment

Who Is Your Competition?

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Pavone Food

Mario Batali, in addition to being an Iron Chef and a restaurateur, just got into the retail grocery business with the opening of Eataly in New York City on September 1.   The place has been described as a “50,000-square-foot  Italian culinary funhouse” but Batali has called it “a temple” where “food is sacred.”  The space is brimming with (mostly Italian) imports located in their own individual retail departments, each offering the very best products available.

The produce department has a “vegetable butcher,” who will clean and prep produce for those short on time or skill.  As you’d expect, there’s a bakery, a fresh pasta counter, a butcher, a coffee bar—all very elaborate with extensive service offerings.  The space also houses a wine store, a bookstore, a cooking school (taught by Lidia Bastianich), and eleven restaurants, not to mention a forthcoming microbrewery.

Eataly is yet another example, albeit a very elaborate one, of how the lines between retail grocery and foodservice are being blurred.  It will be a legitimate destination, one that’s sure to provide unique competition to specialty shops, grocery stores, wine retailers, cooking schools and restaurants for hundreds of miles.

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Posted in General | Tagged competition, iron chef, retail | 2 Comments