TRADE AND MARKET I NG Whoever wins the battle for the stomach, will prosper in the food sector moments that we now have on average per day. You should do something with that, go to those growth markets’, he urges his listeners. One development in the market that responds to this is the “superant”, a combination between a supermarket and a restaurant. According to Grievink this is a logical step, because the classical supermarket model is coming under pressure: ‘The character of supermarkets has to change. Consumers want more convenience, more perception. Food should be prepared “If you want to be active in the food sector for the next ten years, you must be able to tell a good story to the media and to society” fresh, you should cook for them, build a theatre. That’s that perception. When you choose to focus on convenience, you should make sure that you have small urban shops. Preferably without cash desks, so that customers can purchase their shopping for the coming two hours within a minute. A look at the future tells us that the turnover per capita in the sector will grow, according to Grievink, because consumers are willing to pay more for the kilocalories they consumes. In order to encourage his Audience in the right direction so that they can also benefit from this growth, Grievink shares with them a few consumer trends that they can take advantage of. ‘There’ll be much more interest in vegetables; that market is going to grow more than 15 percent by 2025. In line with the above-mentioned growth markets, this will also involve perception vegetables, the retrieval of old varieties. And then there’s the focus on more convenience. So make sure that products are “prepared & ready to use”. Story-telling and authenticity are also important, tell wonderful stories about your product. The problem is that the retail sector has yet to learn to play this game. We need to think carefully about communication and story-telling at the centre of the large supermarkets.’ Use the seven Extras Grievink ultimately manages to capture the growth potential in the potato with the seven Extras: Enjoyment, Convenience, Health, Conscience, Good Story, Cheap, and Hospitable. ‘If something tastes good, it’s worth more. The Enjoyment Extra could do with a little boost in the potato sector. You’ve already raised the level of Convenience, for example by offering precut fries. If someone’s already done that for them, consumers don’t mind paying extra. The price can also go up if a product is demonstrably healthy or if the consumer knows the farmer’s story. Hospitality also speaks for itself: you don’t care what the cappuccino costs if a location is really hospitable, if you get a small glass of liqueur or a bit of whipped cream with it. The Cheap Extra is more difficult to explain, but it’s about two questions, “Am I cheap enough?” and “Do I respond sufficiently to the price sensitivity of the consumer?” Let me give you an example from my own experience. I grew up in the town of Winterswijk, close to the German border, and my friend across the border had slices of Schwarzwalder Schinken ham on his bread. That cost 1.29 D-mark, let’s say 1.29 Dutch guilders. We ate Gelderland sausage, luncheon meat, on our bread that cost 39 cents. How do you get the Grievink family to spend not 39 cents but 1.29 guilders for the same kilocalories of sandwich filling? They’ll have to offer that Schwarzwalder Schinken for 99 cents, for example. That’s what happened and that’s why you’re no longer eating luncheon meat, but Serrano ham or Parma ham: the same kilocalorie value for a higher kilocalorie price. You can also translate this concept to your sector, for example for special potato varieties. In the end, it’s the seven Extras that have made us spend more money on kilocalories for decades. They’re the drivers of the economy, so use them!’ Growth opportunities for suppliers In short, the role of the potato is also changing in many supermarkets. The question then is what role do you want to play as a supplier? It starts with turnover and margins. That works fine, you’re in the picture. But, you’re still just a basic supplier and that’s not enough. Because, the real question is ‘what can you do to add value to the profile of your customer’s formula, which makes it different from other formulas’. ‘We call suppliers of a product with added value key suppliers. Time is set aside for those suppliers, they’re given an extra welcome, because they have a distinctive profile. In your sector, for example, think of a small, traditional supplier that can create products that are specifically tailored to the formula to which they deliver. If you are a supplier of a product for which consumers will go out of their way, the retailer gives you the red carpet treatment, you are then a strategic supplier. If you can do that, you may wonder if you even need a formula at all. Maybe you can go straight to the consumer, who knows, you might be so popular that you can skip the retailer’, Grievink challenged the suppliers in the room. Finally, he mentioned the opportunities that are in online initiatives: ‘The potato is a very recurrent product, you can almost predict to the exact number how many a household needs. You hardly need any algorithms for that. Has anyone ever thought that you can bring your product into people’s homes very recurrently, in combination with the morning paper, for example?’, he concludes his motivating talk addressed to a room full of inspired listeners. At the end of the programme, the chairman, Mr Backx summarised the strength of the talk very well: ‘He is able to look at our product from a different angle.’ ● Zindziwe Janse Potato World 2019 • number 3 7 Pagina 6
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