Shelf Life Got a great food product? Here's a winning recipe for getting it into consumers' hands.

Take a peek into the average American's grocery cart, andyou're likely to find such a wide variety of food products thatyou may wonder how they could possibly all be linked to the foodchain. According to the consumer foods trade magazine NewProduct News, 13,266 new food products were introduced tosupermarkets in 1996. And that's not counting the number of newcomestibles lining the shelves of specialty, gourmet andhealth-food stores; gift basket shops; farmers' markets;delicatessens; restaurants; county fairs; caterers; and evendepartment stores. Nor does the figure include specialty productssold via mail order catalogs, from airline dinner menus, or from anincreasing number of sites on the Internet.

When it comes to food, it seems, Americans can't get enoughon their plates. But that doesn't mean they will eat--orbuy--just anything. "The consumer is fickle," saysStephen Hall, author of From Kitchen to Market: Selling YourGourmet Food Specialty (Upstart Publishing) and president ofFood Marketing International, a food consulting firm in Tucson,Arizona. "Successfully positioning your product so it appealsto the consumer is very complex--it has to do with price,packaging, where it is on the shelf, how it looks and itscontent."

Simply getting your product on the shelf isn't goodenough--especially when you're contending with thousands ofcompetitors and consumers' shopping whims. "[The specialtyfood business] has historically been an easy-entry business,"says Justin Rashid, co-founder of Petoskey, Michigan-based AmericanSpoon Foods Inc., a fruit preserves and condiments manufacturingcompany he started with partner Larry Forgione in 1982."It's at the next level--when you try to expand yourdistribution--that it becomes a very tough business."

In other words, getting your product off the shelf and intoconsumers' hands is more important than getting it on the shelfin the first place. Among other things, it requires filling a need,leveraging trends and marketing aggressively. Though all this maysound like a tough nut to crack, the entrepreneurs on the followingpages prove that with all the right ingredients--plus a littlepersistence--they've got all the fixin's they need forsuccess.

For Health''s Sake

One of the biggest consumer trends affecting food products inrecent years has been a hankering for all things healthful."With better labeling [required by food labeling laws],consumers can make more educated choices as to whether to buy aproduct," explains John Scroggins, former editor of TheFood Channel, a monthly food-trend newsletter. People want toeat better, and healthy foods fill that need, which Scroggins seesas leading to more growth for this market.

Suzanne Locklear tapped into the healthy trend when she startedmarketing Suzanne's Sensational Dressings in 1993. With aTupperware container filled with her "heart healthy"salad dressing and marinade (made with red-wine vinegar and canolaoil) in hand, the entrepreneur approached small wineries andspecialty food stores to drum up her first accounts. She also setup taste-test tables at local farmers' markets. There, peoplenot only marveled at the unique taste of her spicy, tangy dressingbut were also intrigued by her commitment to health education andawareness.

Specifically, Locklear donates a portion of the profits from thesale of her dressings to breast cancer research. As a two-timebreast cancer survivor, the entrepreneur also speaks nationwide onbreast cancer issues and even went to Capitol Hill in 1995 to lobbyfor federal funds to help fight the disease.

A commitment to marketing--not to mention promoting healthfulliving--has paid off for Boise, Idaho-based Suzanne'sSensationals. Several months after she started selling her productto a dozen small accounts in her area, customers began demandingmore: "They even filled out request forms for my product inlocal Albertson's stores," says Locklear, 42. In responseto customers' requests--and a sales appointment where Locklearwon over the store's buyer--the nationwide grocery chain tookLocklear's product on a six-month trial basis in five localstores. Within two weeks, sales were so promising, Albertson'sexpanded the dressing to 15 stores statewide and has since placedthe product in California stores as well. Today, Suzanne'sSensational Dressings--including her new honey-mustard flavor--canbe found on supermarket chain Hughes and upscale grocery chain WildOats shelves across California, as well as in specialty stores insix other states, contributing to projected sales of $1 million byyear-end.

"We've been [increasing] our accounts ever since westarted," says Locklear, who attributes much of her success tonetworking via groups such as the Small BusinessAdministration-sponsored Women's Network for EntrepreneurialTraining (WNET) and through meetings with people who share herconcerns about breast cancer.

In fact, it was while attending a breast cancer function inSacramento, California, that Locklear made one of her mostimportant industry contacts: the owner of the upscaleRaley's/Belair supermarket chain. "The next thing Iknew," says Locklear, "my product was in more than 200stores across Northern California."

Distribution Do's And Don'ts

Getting the Raley's account helped Locklear land anotherprize: a distributor to fulfill the increased number of orders."Raley's/Belair simply asked their existing distributor tohandle the product," explains Locklear.

Typically, distributors (also called jobbers or wholesalers)aren't interested in carrying a new product unless there hasbeen proven demand. "The best way to do this is to first get abunch of retail orders yourself, then present them to adistributor," explains Stephen Hall, who is also acontributing editor of Food Entrepreneur, an industry tradejournal. Without these orders, he says, distributors feel they willhave to undertake the "pioneering" of the product, whichthey may not be willing to do.

About five dozen distributors sell specialty foods to U.S.retailers, says Hall; each typically carries a number of differentproduct lines and sells them within a region. A listing ofdistributors can be obtained from trade groups such as the NationalAssociation for the Specialty Food Trade.

Just because you get a distributor to carry your line, however,doesn't mean you've got it made. "You make a gravemistake if you assume the distributor will sell your product,"warns Rashid, who, with partner Forgione, learned the hard way thattheir fruit preserves required a different marketing approach toreach customers. "Distributors warehouse, deliver, receiveorders and do invoices--but they don't sell."

After a year of working with a distributor, the duo, both 45,turned to other methods to get their products to market. Theyfound, for example, that their preserves sell best when firstoffered to consumers on a taste-test basis in the local resortregion near Lake Michigan. "We do our best sales here sinceour customers are on vacation, relaxed, and willing to taste a widevariety of things," explains Rashid, who sells the preservesand other specialty foods in four company-owned and three licensedretail stores.

"Everything revolves around the tasting table," Rashidadds. "Customers also enjoy watching our products beingmade." Having storefronts has other benefits, too: Everycustomer who visits the stores is asked to join the company'smailing list. The result: a Christmas mail order catalog with avery high response rate.

In addition to storefront and mail order sales, Rashid andForgione wholesale their goods to gourmet shops, department storeswith specialty food departments, and upscale grocery chains(including Wild Oats, Alfalfa's and Whole Foods) nationwide.Specialty stores such as these are typically more open to dealingdirectly with entrepreneurs rather than with distributors. The pairhas even landed an account with the first-class food servicesdepartment of American Airlines, thanks to a contact Forgione hadin that industry "We've become a multichannel marketer,and we do everything ourselves," says Rashid, who estimateswholesaling brought in about half the company's $5.2 million insales last year. "This way, we're able to keep the pricedown."

Like distributors, brokers can also help entrepreneurs get aproduct to market. "Brokers are the salespeople you use whenyou can't afford to hire your own," explains Hall. Alsoknown as food representatives, these professionals sell yourproduct on commission (unlike distributors, who buy it outright,then resell it) to distributors and retailers. Because brokerstypically represent a number of products, however, entrepreneursshould make sure they don't carry a competing product line. Tofind a broker, contact the National Association of Specialty Foodand Confection Brokers for a listing; better yet, ask other foodmanufacturers for referrals. Advises Hall: "Look for a brokerwho understands how you want the product marketed."

To Fee Or Not To Fee?

Whether you sell your product via distributors or brokers or doit yourself, you can ring up some formidable costs in the process.Many supermarkets, for example, require a onetime "slottingfee" to pay for pioneering a product. Others may ask for freesamples and merchandise to help ensure the product sells.

Nikki Taylor and Bill Danner, co-founders of Milwaukee-basedNikki's Cookies Inc., frequently provide free cases of theircookies to supermarkets. "Most stores will pass the savings tothe customer to help introduce the product," explains Taylor,39, who with Danner, 40, started the company in 1986."It's only a onetime deal, and it helps us get ongoingorders."

This method seems to work for the duo, who has expanded theirline to include 15 varieties of cookies, sold through upscalegrocery and department stores nationwide--as well as in Japan,England and the Caribbean--to the tune of more than $1.5 millionannually.

When it comes to slotting fees, many supermarkets are flexible."A supermarket may force major manufacturers to pay a slottingfee of $25,000, but quite often they will be more lenient onindividual entrepreneurs, provided they have a good product,"says Nelson Knapp, director of new product development atSpringfield, Missouri, food marketing firm Noble &Associates.

In Locklear's case, a high-quality product plus a commitmentto doing advertising and in-store demonstrations helped her bypassslotting fees. Locklear did food demonstrations and passed outsamples at supermarkets herself until her business expanded and shewas able to hire others for the task.

Likewise, Lesley Giordano, founder of Walnut Creek,California-based Giordano Foods, says she promised supermarkets shewould help advertise her Flavor Starters specialty cooking oilswhen she began marketing them through wholesaler/distributors in1994. Tactics such as doing radio advertising and coupon ads andcontributing to the cost of supermarkets' newspaper ads helpedthe 48-year-old entrepreneur avoid slotting fees and get herproduct on the shelves of independent grocery stores acrossNorthern California within three months.

To ensure her product stays on those shelves, Giordano alsoemploys creative strategies such as placing "neckhangers"on bottles, with recipes, special offers and coupons. "Youhave to keep being creative," she says. "Just being onthe shelf is not going to solidify your sales."

Next time around, however, Giordano hopes to avoid the financialpressures of the regular grocery distribution channel altogether."[Natural-foods stores] don't ask for free goods as muchas the regular grocery channels," says Giordano, who annuallyattends the California Natural Foods Expo to promote herproduct.

Tricks Of The Trade

Attending trade shows is one of the best places to get a tastefor the food product market--and for your product's viability.Locklear regularly attends the Seattle Gift Show, Natural FoodsShow and International Fancy Food and Confection Show, for example.(For listings of regional or national food trade shows, check outTradeshow Week's Tradeshow Week Data Book at yourlibrary.)

Trade shows are also great places to find new marketingstrategies. "We always get new ideas from shows such as theone put on by the Direct Marketing Association," explains PudKearns, who runs Mary of Puddin Hill, the Greenville, Texas,fruitcake company her parents, Mary and Sam Lauderdale, started in1948. One new idea for Kearns was to diversify the family businessto include off-season mailings for Valentine's Day and Easter.This helped the 43-year-old entrepreneur boost sales to $2.5million last year.

Attendees at Jubilee! The Creative Gifting Convention and TradeShow are often looking for new products to include in their giftbaskets. Taylor and Danner got their start this way by takingpackages of the cookies to local gift basket and departmentstores.

"I sold our cookies myself the first few years, until oneday at a department store I met a specialty food rep who put me intouch with [reps] in other states," says Taylor. Today, sheand Danner sell their cookies via 47 independent sales reps and 10distributors.

Another place to get a feel for the food products market--andpossibly even solicit new orders--is on the Internet. "Food isdefinitely a very popular topic on the Internet," says KenMcCarthy, president of the San Francisco Internet consulting andproduction firm E-Media. "You can buy advertising on somesites, or you may get [recognition] if you provide an interestingsite with recipes, for example." Specifically, McCarthyrecommends checking out sites at http://www.epicurious.comhttp://www.starchefs.com andhttp://www.veg.org/veg

Other venues for marketing a food product include mail order andwholesale clubs. "Rather than go head to head withcompetitors, look for different ways of bringing your product tomarket," suggests Knapp. "Find a less traditional way ofreaching your target audience." That could mean a unique kindof packaging--or looking for a different market altogether.

Wholesale and membership clubs, for example, provide plenty ofopportunity. "Club stores--with their numerous food samplingtables--are turning into a proving ground for new products,"says Knapp. "These stores have become more consumer-friendly,and because they're always looking for ways to differentiatethemselves from grocery stores, they're often more willing towork with entrepreneurs."

Mail order, too, can work for a food product--but beware:Increasingly high postage, materials and fulfillment costs havemade this industry more difficult to get into than before. Expertssay mail order success requires offering three things: 1) anunusual product or service not found in regular stores, 2) a priceadvantage over your competition, and 3) a personal flair that setsyour catalog apart.

"Unless you have a product that is extremely unique ordelivers a very high value, developing a mail order food businessis a lot tougher than people think," cautions Rashid, whoattributes his company's success with mail order to an articleon it in The New York Times in 1983. "After thearticle, we got over 3,500 calls asking for our mail ordercatalog--which did not exist," he recalls. "An `echo'effect followed, with smaller magazines and newspapers picking upour story." The media was attracted by the unusual nature oftheir business: "We're not just a jam maker; we do thingswith products like wild hickory nuts and thimbleberry jam that noone else in America is doing."

Another key ingredient for mail order success is a good mailinglist. Though lists can be leased from various list brokers, findingone that fits your target customers can be difficult."It's better to put a sign-up list in your store, if youhave one, and encourage everyone to sign up," says Kearns,whose family used this method to build their 24-page catalog."A lot of people also have good luck advertising inmagazines--just make sure they are magazines your customersread."

Selling through another company's mail order catalog is alsoan option. Because companies such as Williams-Sonoma areoverwhelmed with samples shipped to them from small vendors, youmight have better luck making contacts with such catalog companiesin other ways, such as at trade shows. (For more tips on sellingyour food product through mail order, see our special report,"It's In The Mail," in the February 1997 issue.)

Menu Plan

Final food for thought: Whatever method you choose to get yourproduct to market, make sure it's spelled out clearly in abusiness plan. "Be prepared to pay someone who's familiarwith the industry to go over your plan with you," advisesGiordano.

Also be prepared to give your potential market more than just aquick taste test. "If you've really got a hot product,people will come to your door, but the reality is that you shouldexpect [to wait] five to seven years before you generaterevenue," says Hall. "Articulating a vision of where youwant to be in those five to seven years is what will pull youthrough."

Having a realistic plan for her products' future is whatkeeps Locklear going--and keeps her dressings flying off storeshelves. "All it takes to be successful is one bottle ofdressing sold per store, per day," says Locklear. Though onebottle a day may not sound like a lofty goal, Locklear views itdifferently: "If, by the year 2000, Albertson's makes goodon their plan to have 1,000 stores nationwide, that could mean alot of bottles."