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Shrinkflation: 4 strategies for brands to increase their profit margins
Feb06

Shrinkflation: 4 strategies for brands to increase their profit margins

The current period of inflation has anchored a word in the minds of all customers: Shrinkflation. Our analysis shows that 4 distinct tactics are followed by brands wanting to increase their prices without losing customers (the 3rd one is incredible). Because the whole point of a shrinkflation strategy is this: leave prices unchanged and give the illusion of status quo so as not to break the loyalty circle. Summary Strategy 1: Reduce the size of the...

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Replacing animal proteins: a real trend or a marketing bubble?
Dec01

Replacing animal proteins: a real trend or a marketing bubble?

Replacing animal protein with plant-based equivalents in the diet was THE hot trend of 2022 in the food industry. We discussed plant-based meat in this article, but the dislike for animal protein was also evident elsewhere. Fish substitutes are also more numerous, as well as cheese substitutes. However, it remains to be seen whether this trend will last or is just a bubble. Statistics on the plant-based substitutes industry 24% of the innovations presented at SIAL...

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The food industry: less innovation, more streamlining
Nov08

The food industry: less innovation, more streamlining

The energy crisis and the inflation of raw materials are upsetting the food industry. Manufacturers are forced to review their strategies and streamline their offers. In supermarkets, 80% of the shelves have lost references, which rises to 89% in e-commerce. In other words, the choice is decreasing. More seriously, innovation is decreased. By sacrificing it on the altar of sobriety, manufacturers risk cutting themselves off from some of their consumers. Contact us for your market research...

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DIONE: What does a good internationalization strategy look like?
Nov04

DIONE: What does a good internationalization strategy look like?

During our coverage of SIAL, we met several entrepreneurs who are redoubling their ingenuity in their internationalization strategy. Lithuanian ice cream producer DIONE is a shining example! First, the family-owned company developed largely on its territory before embarking on an inspiring international expansion. Today, the manufacturer can boast of being recognized all over the world. Europe, Middle East, Maghreb, East Asia: DIONE ice creams are traveling the world thanks to an efficient marketing mix. Here we reveal the keys to the success...

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Food: marketing in search of “free”
Nov02

Food: marketing in search of “free”

SIAL is an indispensable event for all professionals interested in food trends (see our report on the plant-based meat mega-trend). In 2022 I was particularly surprised to see the evolution of food marketing. Inflation is no longer just in our wallets but also in words on the packaging. It’s quite simple; I had the impression that marketers had passed the word to each other to make the “free” mentions flourish: gluten-free, meat-free, fish-free, lactose-free… The list is long. In this article, I take a...

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Balsamic vinegar in cocktails [new features SIAL 2022]
Oct24

Balsamic vinegar in cocktails [new features SIAL 2022]

Balsamic vinegar was in the spotlight in France’s 2022 edition of the World Food Fair (SIAL). Two products, in particular, caught our attention: the “balsamic gin” from Leonardi (Italy) and the Cocktail Spark from Daregal (France). These two innovative products based on balsamic vinegar show that this category can be renewed and has very good days ahead. The innovations of the 2018 edition did not represent this very classic product. Balsamic vinegar market statistics Balsamic vinegar is the...

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Plant based meat: basic trends and increasing offers
Oct21

Plant based meat: basic trends and increasing offers

Plant based meat has become a major trend in 2022. Never before have plant based alternatives been so prominent. This trend was particularly visible at SIAL, the world’s leading food trade fair held every two years in Paris. It is quite simple; it seems that plant based meat is such a massive consumption trend that even the producers of classic meat are forced to get involved. Contact us for your research on the food sector Statistics...

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[Podcast] San Hoon Degeimbre puts people at the heart of his success
Apr17

[Podcast] San Hoon Degeimbre puts people at the heart of his success

San Hoon Degeimbre is the double-starred chef of the restaurant l’Air du Temps. It is less well known that he is also at the head of 5 other establishments open between 2015 and 2019. In this podcast recorded in February 2020, he shares his vision of entrepreneurship and explains how he manages to motivate his staff and attract young talent. With Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, he retraces his entrepreneurial path and explains how he manages to manage 6...

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CoCasse vegetable tablets: a surprizing food innovation
Feb11

CoCasse vegetable tablets: a surprizing food innovation

It was during our active monitoring of the marketing campaign at SIAL 2018 that we discovered CoCasse, one of the candidates for the SIAL Innovation Awards, which presented a product never before seen: a vegetable concentrate in the form of a tablet. The resemblance to a chocolate bar was so striking that visitors fell for it, some thinking that the squares of vegetable concentrate could be eaten. Back in today’s article on a culinary and aesthetic...

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A roll to spread chocolate : really a good idea?
Dec08

A roll to spread chocolate : really a good idea?

One at food fair SIAL 2016 featured inovations was a “choco roll”. this product had been selected for its innovative packaging. In light of the debate on the failure rate of innovations in the food sector, we paid a visit to the Israeli company that brought it on the market. The idea behind the “chocolate spread revolution” The company which presented this product at SIAL was “choco roll”. The roll was filled with chocolate made by...

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Re-Belle jams : an ethical project against food waste
Nov09

Re-Belle jams : an ethical project against food waste

Here is a very nice project we discovered at SIAL 2016 : jams made from fruits and vegatables that were removed from the shelves and that should have thrown into the bin. It can be seen as the extension of trend that emerged in 2014 when Intermarché started selling “ugly fruits and vegetables”, i.e. fruits and vegetables that couldn’t be sold because of their aspect and lack of conformity to the standard of the retail industry....

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Food and drink innovation: what are the success factors?
Nov02

Food and drink innovation: what are the success factors?

020At the food fair SIAL 2016 more than 2000 innovative products were presented. In other words some 10% of the world’s yearly food innovation was concentrated in one place during one week. Amazing opportunity for a market researcher like me. Yet 50% of those products will die in the next 6 months. All the money poured in their development, marketing and distribution will be lost. What is innovation? We don’t want to oppose here technical innovation...

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SIAL 2016 : first conclusions from a busy week
Oct21

SIAL 2016 : first conclusions from a busy week

Like every 2 years I spent a few days attending the world’s biggest food fair : SIAL 2016. Each and every year this fait gets bigger and 2016 was no exception. SIAL 2016 remains a primary source of information for market research on the food sector and trends detection. Here are my high-level conclusions that I’ll complement in the coming days with special in-depth articles on specific products. Let’s get organic 5 years ago, organic food...

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Food labels: keep it simple and stupid
Dec17

Food labels: keep it simple and stupid

In her weekly column in Le Figaro, French most visited online journal, Natacha Polony defended on 5 Dec 2014 the idea that food labels should not be simplified. We disagree. Read further to find out why and more importantly “how” labels should be simplified to benefit the customers’ interest. Is Mrs. Polony’s argumentation really worthwhile ? Mrs Polony was arguing that a recent law passed to simplify the labeling of meat was non-sense. This law requires...

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1/3 of hospitality firms could die. So what ?
Dec10

1/3 of hospitality firms could die. So what ?

A press conference was recently organized by the union of independents to denounce the expected negative effects of the black boxes in the so-called Horeca (HOtels – REstaurant – Coffee shops) sector (in other words the sector of hospitality). As a short reminder, these black boxes are devices to be implemented in the cash register of stores to eradicate the possibility to make black money. Jean-François DONDELET, the president of the union of independents (SDI), said...

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Idea in brief : rejuvenate your products with a new packaging
Dec05

Idea in brief : rejuvenate your products with a new packaging

To follow up on our post dedicated to innovation in the food & drinks sector, we wanted to give you another example of how you can attract customer’s attention very simply, through a small innovation brought to your product. The idea behind this post was inspired by two very new products we spotted at SIAL 2014. Keep in mind SIAL is a must when it comes to food innovation and analysis of the trends in this...

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Food & drinks : just remix to innovate
Nov24

Food & drinks : just remix to innovate

You may remember this old post we published on innovation : innovation is a remix. Well, it seems that in the food & drink business (we are just back from SIAL) some innovations are just about that : applying old recipes to a new sector. If you are European chances are high that you consume pistachios in one of those two ways : roasted (in the shell) or nature. For Setton farmers, a California-based company, this...

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Gumelo lets you grow your own food
Nov10

Gumelo lets you grow your own food

We met the entrepreneurial guys of Gumelo, a Portuguese startup in the food sector, at the SIAL 2014 fair in Paris. We just loved what they do and thought it would be good for them to get some exposure beyond the borders of Portugal. Grow mushrooms in your apartment As we explained in a previous article, the concept behind Gumelo is simple : wherever you live, you should be able to grow your own food. Gumelo’s...

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SIAL 2014 : and the winner of the innovation award is …
Nov07

SIAL 2014 : and the winner of the innovation award is …

You don’t need to present a new drink or a new food product to win the first prize of innovation at SIAL. The innovation is also about everything what revolves about consumers and new ways to consumer food. We already dealt with the nomadic market trend in an earlier article and this year’s innovation prize fits perfectly into this trend. This award rewards an individual who has understood what marketers call the “customers’ pains” and that...

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Produce your own food : the new trend
Nov03

Produce your own food : the new trend

There is one weak signal that emerged this year at SIAL that we think may be interesting to follow : “grow your own food”. We detected at least 3 products that fall into this category and we’d like to present them to you. Don’t buy : make it on your own The concept behind the “grown your food” trend is simple. You can produce what your eat and it’s not limited to vegetables or fruits. Any...

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Back from SIAL 2014 : pictures and impressions
Oct29

Back from SIAL 2014 : pictures and impressions

Before publishing some detailed reports on the new concepts, innovative products we saw at this year’s SIAL in Paris, we thought it may be a good idea to give you a general overview. The SIAL 2014 was just amazing, as usual : outstanding organization, the broadest range of suppliers you can find on Earth (some 6000 exhibitors), the most innovative products … just everything was there to make this show one of the most successful ever....

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SIAL : the best place to conduct market research on food & drink trends
Sep29

SIAL : the best place to conduct market research on food & drink trends

The worldwide largest food & drink fair will open next month (from Oct 19 until Oct 23rd). Some 6300 exhibitors from 103 countries (!) will attend the show and present what is thought to be the largest products range available on earth. The fair is held every 2 years and we have the pleasure to have be press-accredited for 4 years. Why is it important for us to visit the SIAL We visit the SIAL for...

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Will Boco revamp the food-served-over-the-counter sector?
Jun03

Will Boco revamp the food-served-over-the-counter sector?

BOCO is one food-served-over-the-counter concept that is currently attracting a lot of attention in Paris. Launched by the Ferniot brothers (Simon is a business guy who has sold his latest food complement company; Vincent is a well-known journalist and TV guy), BOCO was first started in a corner street of Avenue de l’Opera in Paris. I met with Simon Ferniot on a Saturday to discuss the genesis of their business idea, their future plan, and the...

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Visit to the SIAL: first impressions
Oct19

Visit to the SIAL: first impressions

Thanks to Jean-Christophe Samalens, the active founder of the well-known blog drinky.fr, I went this year to the SIAL in Paris. Thank you for this. For those of you who don’t know the SIAL, it’s the equivalent of the CEBIT in the food sector. I went there as an amateur (I can’t say I’m specialized in the food sector although I worked for clients who are). What I was primarily interested in was the discovery of...

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