A dramatically different product said key to sales success

Staff report

DENVER: Mark Retzloff, the founder of Horizon Organic Milk, said the more different a new food product was the easier it was to sell.

“Passion, vision and a different product are the first steps to success,” he said. He got into organic milk production from an interest in marketing other organic food products.

He said having marketing knowledge was the best way to start with a new food category.

“With a new product category you have to show some demand for it first,” he said.

“Create that initial demand and producers will be attracted to produce it.”

He said to keep a premium price the supply must always be slightly less than the demand. This meant that demand creation was the primary job if the new industry was to grow and still stay profitable.

“You must have a quality product as the customer defines quality. Not the way you define it.”

He said a new product must be both accessible and affordable. To be accessible on a wide scale requires finding a distributor.

“Realize that if you are selling wholesale, your customer is the distributor and not the consumer.

“You need to understand the needs of your distributor and be willing to do whatever is necessary to keep him happy.”

Retzloff said a major problem with selling a frozen meat product in a grocery store is that people don’t look for meat in the frozen foods section.

“If they can’t find it, they can’t buy it.”

He said to realize that the typical consumer was only going to give your product a few seconds to sell itself.

“Always make your primary different product claim the biggest type of your label.”

For example, he said on Horizon’s milk cartons the word organic was the biggest typeface.

He said authenticity is critical in alternative foods and that consumers want to see some independent verification of product claims.

He said it was critical that you understand your industry. For example, in health food stores veggie burgers are competitors for organic meats.

Before starting a food business he said to first find the answers to the following questions.

Who is doing different things?

Who is succeeding?

What is causing the people who fail to fail?

“Once you know these things you can devise a go-to-market strategy.”

© by The Stockman Grass Farmer

If You Would Like To Read More Articles Like This One, CALL 1-800-748-9808 And Request A Free Sample Of THE STOCKMAN GRASS FARMER TODAY!
Or Order A Free Sample Of THE STOCKMAN GRASS FARMER online. CLICK HERE.