TRADE AND MARKETING Innovative Potato Presentation at Jumbo’s BACKGROUND ‘It’s currently a big problem that the consumer has no idea of the considerable differences among the various table potatoes in the supermarket. If we look at the results of a range of studies, we see that it is mainly people in the 21-25 year age group who are lagging behind in eating potatoes. They grew up with potatoes, but somewhere along the line we’ve lost these youngsters where the eating of fresh potatoes is concerned’, Annemarie Blitterswijk, marketing project manager at HZPC, explains. ‘We have to help them make the right choice. In fact, almost all consumers do that in exactly the same way. We call this the 3-1-0 rule. This means that the consumer starts choosing 3 metres from a shelf. From that point, he or she has an overview of the total of available potatoes combined with the different options. This then determines the first step towards a choice. Then, at 1 metre, the consumer asks the question, ’What does this shelf have for me?’ He/she then chooses a product or reads what you can do with it. It’s with this knowledge that we have developed this special cooler. With clear information, we help the consumer make a choice at a 3-metre distance. Let’s say that the consumer prefers regional products. He/she is then directed to these potatoes and sees, at a 1-metre distance, that there are various options where the taste of the potatoes is concerned. Then, when right in front of the shelf, at 0 metres, he/she can make a choice. In this way, you can help the consumer make more conscious choices. As a result, the consumer realises more clearly that the potato is a versatile product. In the cooler, we can set the temperature at the ideal storage temperature, which is 8 degrees Celsius for table potatoes. We can also dim the light to limit any possible green discolouration’, the enthusiastic potato manager explains. ‘If you could see the difference in quality between the moment that table potatoes leave the packaging hall and the moment that they are on the shop shelf, you may well conclude that things often go terribly wrong. We know this very well because we do our tests in the shops. With this new cooler, we hope to be able to improve the quality of the potato in the supermarkets’, adds communication manager Douwe Lodewijk. taken this move after receiving requests, mainly from the smaller retailers. It is these shops that benefit more from an extended storage life for potatoes than shops with a high turnover ratio such as Jumbo in Joure. We have made our cooler in the four colours of our own cooking types. We think the Jumbo cooler a little bit too colourful. It means that it’s not always immediately clear where things are. Especially because some segment colours such as local produce, are not reflected in the packaging. We also see the advantage of the cooled presentation for our first-early potatoes, which are expected to arrive soon. These very fresh potatoes, which may often have a few loose skins, stay fresh longer in a cooler like this. Since its installation at Jumbo’s, no extra returns have been received from the cooler. And that also makes a difference. We’ve not had any complaints about black spot so far, which you might expect under cold storage conditions. And there are fewer instances of sprouting than before’, says the Greydanus potato team. ● Jaap Delleman ‘We’re convinced that the concept is much more suitable for the smaller shops where potatoes may remain on the shelf for up to two weeks’, is the opinion of Klaas Greydanus, Tjalke Stoelwinder and Cor Greydanus. Potato World 2013 • number 2 21 Pagina 20
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