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Clarence Birdseye must have known what he was doing when hefirst conceptualized pre-packaged, frozen foods more than 60 yearsago. Somehow, the budding entrepreneur, who back then patentedseveral of his food-freezing ideas, clued in to the fact thatAmericans love a home-cooked meal--but they also love poppingsomething in the microwave and kicking off their shoes while dinneris "served." Yes, The Birdseye Frosted Food Co. wasdestined for success even before microwaves became secondnature.
Through the years, other entrepreneurs have followed suit andhelped build a behemoth industry that now gathers $60 billion inannual retail and food-service sales. And while most of those salesderive from the Fortune 500s, there's still plenty of room forentrepreneurs to step up to the frozen-food plate.
"What's driven frozen-food sales is new-productintroduction," says Steven C. Anderson, president and CEO ofthe National Restaurant Association. "A lot of the sales comefrom larger companies, but a lot also come from entrepreneurs whohave a good niche product."
"Niche"--your biggest weapon against the frozen foodgiants--is the key here. Consider, for instance, the healthychildren's cuisine of Fran's Healthy Helpings, thevegetarian entrees of Amy's Kitchen Inc. or the gourmetappetizers of Nancy's Specialty Foods.
"As a $60 million company, we don't have the muscle tocompete with the big guys--we're a little fish in a bigpond," says Nancy's Specialty Foods creator Nancy Muellerof her Newark, California, company. "We compete by having adistinctive product. If we introduced a product that was already inbroad distribution, we'd be stomped out like ants. But thequiche business is small enough that the large companies leave usalone."
Cool Like That
Where does the in crowd go, anyway?
By Laura Tiffany
Oh, that elusive moniker of "cool." You thought afterhigh school graduation you could stop striving for hipness.Surprise, surprise: As an entrepreneur, being cool is moreimportant than ever. So we thought we'd head back to highschool to find just what these characteristics of cool are.
How do teens determine what's cool? "The number-one[characteristic of cool] is quality," says Jill Kilcoyne,syndicated research manager for Teenage Research Unlimited, aNorthbrook, Illinois, market research firm specializing in teens."Teens also want a sense of ownership in a brand." Otherfactors include the brand's uniqueness and how it'sadvertised.
"If advertising can predict a certain lifestyle they aspireto, then those brands are what they're going to be attractedto," Kilcoyne explains.
Want more clues to coolness? Kilcoyne suggests flipping througha Teen People or Seventeen magazine, going to themall or watching a few music videos on MTV.
The top 10 coolest brands, according to teens:
1. Nike
2. Tommy Hilfiger
3. Sony
4. Adidas
5. Nintendo
6. Gap
7. Levi's
8. Calvin Klein
9. Ralph Lauren/Polo
10. Coca-Cola
Source: Teenage Research Unlimited
Book `Em
If you're already so overwhelmed by your company financesthat the words "personal finance" make your hands sweatand heart palpitate, try Brooke M. Stephens' Wealth HappensOne Day at a Time: 365 Days to a Brighter Financial Future(Harper Business, $19.95). Each day, Stephens provides relativelypainless tips and action steps to help you get rid of your moneyhang-ups so you can spend less and invest more.
In Hamish Pringle and Marjorie Thompson's Brand Spirit:How Cause Related Marketing Builds Brands (John Wiley &Sons, $29.95), you'll learn how a good deed can be healthy foryour heart and your spreadsheet. With myriad case studies, theauthors explain how to create a worthy cause-related marketingcampaign. Consider UK toilet tissue company Andrex for instance,which used its puppy mascot to help the Guide Dogs for the BlindAssociation, or Reebok, whose freedom-related marketing made for astrong alliance with Amnesty International.
Contact Sources
American Frozen Food Institute, (703) 821-0770, http://www.affi.com
Nancy's Specialty Foods, (510) 494-1100, http://www.nancys.com
Teenage Research Unlimited, (847) 564-3440, http://www.teenresearch.com
