Summer at last, so time to think about Christmas then?

Hard to imagine that winter is just round the corner! Yes I know it is June but in two weeks the nights start to draw in, the summer holidays start and as we know, ask any child and the holidays go too quick. Then it will be September which is almost autumn which these days means October / November isn’t far away, and we get snow early if the last two years are anything to go by; that means Christmas isn’t far away!

Christmas, glad you mentioned it. Have you decided on what folk will be ordering?
This Christmas is going to be all about spiced drinks. There isn’t a drink you can’t spice up to make more seasonal. Seriously, name any drink and I bet we can make it “seasonal” with one of our flavours.
Wine and cider are easy with our Mulling Syrup. Quick shot and its sorted. All the sugar and natural spices in the ideal proportions. If you are a pub etc. then it is ideal for an easy solution to the festive season. (the other solution is to fiddle about with sugar and spices for hours or give people the “vegetarian option” ) see how easy it is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCyAD3bvB60

Convinced? Good, click here and order now, after all it is nearly Christmas!

http://www.malmesburysyrups.co.uk/permanant-christmas-coffee-syrups.asp

Mind you, if it is to warm for you then you can always spice up a fruit smoothie, good way of making something different. And if you want a Milk shake to taste like Christmas, even in the summer, add a shot of our natural Cinnamon flavoured syrup. A Christmas milk shake in the summer. Who would of thought?

What is the point of being different, and why are those who claim to be not? A short rant at food service wholesalers.

Lots of food retailers, wholesalers and food service providers claim to be different and moreover, they claim one of their ‘point of difference’ is their local sourcing. Now I am the first to point out that just because something is ‘local’ does not mean that it is better. In fact I would suggest that it can sometimes be a poor reason for choosing something. However, choosing something because it was local is a lot better than choosing something on price.

Recently I have noticed an increasing demand from food-service companies and in particular the wholesalers who serve the food-service sector, are all worrying about price.

They claim that they source locally, or that they are concerned with provenance indeed one is a member of Taste of the West yet has declined to stock two products I am involved in because they are too expensive. They would rather provide their customers – in this instance lots of coffee and tea shops in the south west, with Irish UHT and Swiss-French syrups.

Surely not, there must be other reasons? Well let’s see.

Is it because they will not be able to pass the increase in price on to their customers? No, the prices they charge are well up on normal prices so should mean no real cost to their customers.

Is it because their customers prefer these brands or products; well not if you judge the enquiries we receive. In fact our direct sales help overcome the supply issue as we can sell direct. So it must simply be margin. Never mind what customers might like, what offers the biggest margin, just offer that.

 

Short sighted? We shall see. I had the chance to meet a new customer this week, our third in a local town. They wanted our products thanks to local reviews from other people and most importantly, other supply companies didn’t offer them. Not available in large chains also helps.

So, being different is more important than having the biggest margin perhaps? After all, you wouldn’t want to be just like everyone else would you?

Intellectual Property (IP) -Why it’s not very clever to ignore it!

a design, synonymous with your product

Don’t think you have any intellectual property? It’s the sort of thing that other people create, right? Then let me challenge you.

Do you make a product? Do you have a shop or offer a service? Do you advise other people how to do any of the above? Do you create materials or programme software to deliver processes? Likelihood is you are actually creating IP every week and don’t realise it.

Let’s use an example. Think of a small, independent coffee shop.
What is it called? (Its brand?)
What does it do to distinguish itself from other shops? The design, menus, layout and the way it services its customers – all these could be copyrighted! Not really very easy to protect, but still recognisable as adding value. If you came to sell the business that would be the knowhow people would want to buy. If you walk into one of the large, branded coffee-chains outlets, without consciously knowing it, I suspect between the colour scheme, uniform, product names, chairs and tables, the font on the menus, even the layout and use of space will distinguish which brand you are experiencing. That brand will be aiming to attract the consumers it wants and would expect a degree of protection if someone was to come along and ape all those brand cues.
Then there are the Signature drinks – the special recipes and processes that make a drink for that shop particular to it (signature). What if it’s a good drink that people want to have the recipe for and copy? It might have a great name. Consumers might want to buy it and take it home? They might want to be able to buy it and consume at home? Could you have created a new Innocent, Coke, Pepsi, etc?
Frappuccino, the Starbucks take on a Frappé is its branded take on a drink it wants to make synonymous with its shops. So it’s registered and protected. If you tried to make a Frappuccino you might find the weight of Starbucks upon you. The point is, Starbucks has recognised it has created some IP and decided sto protect it. Is it the law or the branding that does that best?
Trademarks, tend to be for protecting your company name or the high-level drinks and products. Copyright, that fact that you declare you’re writing words, processes etc. that you recognise as being yours and that copying them would infringe your copyright- that means you might need a solicitor to help explain to someone how they infringed your property, which they might not want to happen, especially if it’s done in a courtroom!
So, IP, the thinking you did, converted into a protectable revenue stream for the future.

Provenance ain’t where it’s at?

As a food and drink marketing person I have advocated the importance of ‘who made it, where it’s made, why it’s made that way.  Why?  Because we have all been told that it is an important issue for consumers and a great way to differentiate your product from others.  Well, at the risk of committing heresy, I am going to argue the opposite.

Why?           

Consumers care about provenance when the product is fresh, short-shelf life and / or high-risk (eg chicken, milk and dairy, meats, fish and fruit etc.)  Why?  Because these products have to be fresh, well-made and high quality to be safe and palatable.  Overtime these are the same products that have become synonymous with supermarket own-label brands because the supermarkets found they could attract customers by being the custodians of food-safety standards and arbiters of quality.  So, the provenance of the foods became something the supermarkets looked after, so you didn’t have to worry.

But supermarkets are not all own-label.  They even promote where the meat, fish, dairy comes from.  True, when it suits the supermarket they make their own label more easily understood and distinctive by highlighting the provenance of the source, why they chose it, demonstrating  that they choose products for you so that you continue to trust them, the supermarkets, to ensure quality, safety.

 

Good, Better, Best.

Supermarkets are so good at ensuring quality they can even create premiums within each category.  They exercise such control on a category that they will decide what is the ‘leading-brand’ and then match or claim to better it through using premium versions of their own-label.  Nothing wrong with that, except as food-marketers we have allowed the supermarkets not only to become judge,  jury, and executioner of what is and is not quality, but even what should be regarded as premium.

 

But shouldn’t the consumer be the person who decides what is best?

Well, only if they are offered the choice and it is presented in a way they understand.  Supermarkets decide not only what goes on their shelves but also what gets position and prominence.  So you, the producer, may have a fantastic brand but it may actually be out of reach for most people, especially if the supermarket decides to put it on a high shelf that is an awkward reach.

 

Will supermarket own-label pass the test of a real brand?

What would that test be?  Let’s imagine you have to buy two bottles of wine. One for consuming in the privacy of your own home.  And one that you want to take to some friends as a gift?  (And let’s imagine that, like me, you don’t know the difference between claret and Bordeaux.)

You go to a supermarket and you buy a perfectly acceptable own-label bottle of red, as well as a very nicely branded and labelled bottle with a premium-looking label.  Now, which one do you think your friends would like you to give them?

Does where the bottle came from, the grape, the vineyard, the age, the type of glass, the yeast, the vineyard owner’s style and experience, the weather that year, the whatever ‘guff’ they wrote in the Sunday Times about how to consume this wine with which food blah, blah, bloody blah?  No! The reason the bottle was chosen as a present was because it ‘looked the part’.  It said premium.  It said luxury.  It said, ‘I love you’.  It said ‘I care’.

It definitely had better not say; I trust a 23-year-old supermarket buyer with a degree in ‘patronising suppliers’ who is more likely to pick a spot than a great wine!  It ought not to say, I can’t choose so got a supermarket to do it for me and after all, it is ‘Taste the Extra Finest not chosen by You’.  So, what’s your problem?  I was in a hurry!

Might your friends be less impressed with the own-label and perhaps suggest you shove it somewhere until it reaches a drinkable temperature?

So can supermarkets do brands?  

They certainly cannot do luxury brands and that is where proper brands win.  More importantly, it reminds everyone that it is about brands and not about provenance.  If it were about provenance then why are we all buying supermarkets labels?  Because they have provenance sorted.  Then perhaps it could be about the intangibles like luxury, premium and preference.  You know preference?  It’s why you buy something and you don’t have to justify it, other than with ‘because I want it’.  Perhaps the marketer’s job is to do that more often; remind people to want something.  Where the brands score over the own-label is in their ability to talk directly to the consumer, outside the supermarket and without the supermarket drowning you out about its latest BOGOF.

So provenance maybe isn’t the issue for consumers as much as we thought.  But perhaps in future, branded foods and drinks can be a bit more about who they are for, when they are for and why we want to want them.  Not because they were on a special offer in Aisle 6 ‘special offers’ bin!

© Taylerson Ltd

Ubiquitous milk, available everywhere!

So what is all the fuss over milk prices and what has it got to do with coffee shops?

After coffee (ethically sourced or otherwise) coffee shops use shed loads of milk. However, individual coffee shops and small chains tend to buy this milk from the most convenient supplier. Who is the most convenient supplier?  Well it depends. In some areas there is effectively no local competition. There will only be a viable market for one milk-delivery company and that means the price paid is whatever they offer. The price they the dairies, pay for milk from farmers will be whatever they need to pay to secure those supplies and still make a margin. Does that mean that you can’t do anything about the price farmers receive for their milk? Well it depends on what you are offered. Remember that just getting all your milks from one supplier may be convenient but might also be missing out on the alternative ways it can add value. That could mean, other local dairies, as opposed to a delivered wholesaler. Remember, the more people in the supply chain either the higher the price or the lower the margin that each person will receive delivering milk to you.

What are the alternatives- what choice in supply ?

Cash and carry or the local supermarket? Local dairy company versus big national dairy company? Often it’s the same milk as likely as not- except you didn’t pay for that nice man in a lorry to deliver in their usual cheerful manner! Worth every penny I am told.

Milk is just… well milk? Isn’t it?   No!

It comes from cows, goats, sheep, soya, oats, rice in fact, apart from a stone, if you squeeze most things hard enough liquid will flow out; whether it’s fit to put in your coffee is entirely up to you.

Pasteurised, homogenised, standardised…. In fact the process can make a difference. Many Baristas will swear that they like to use a certain milk, although the actual knowledge on this seems variable. There is a school of thought that says fresh semi-skim is best but others say to make the best ‘Flat-White’ you should use Jersey/Guernsey cows milks and that the protein content of milk helps keep the foam whereas that over treated milk doesn’t foam as well, yet others use long-life milk successfully. McDonald’s use massive amounts of milk and they use several types including ESL (Extended Shelf-life milk- it’s fresh, just for longer)

Milk can be found in these

Organic?

Again, some people swear by it, some dismiss it. It is more a question of ethic than a quality or taste issue. There is no real reason why Organic milk will be any better than ordinary milk because ordinary milk is often produced in exactly the same way but like Rain Forrest Alliance, single estate,  Fair Trade etc. it is the ethos behind it that you are buying.

How can milk add value?

Just like coffee, syrups, bakery products, décor, food menus and all the elements that make your coffee house different to other (and by this we mean the big chains,) coffee shop competitors. Do customers notice? Well only if you point it out and how you do that could on its own be quite entertaining and good for publicity. Let’s put the Cow-suit to one side for the moment, after all this is business not a Panto.

One trick that worked for the supermarkets was linking to local farmers. Even if it isn’t actually their milk that comes directly into you; so long as they are linked to your supplier? For example; An Arla supplying farmer and you use Cravendale milk; or a Sainsbury supplier and you buy your milk in Sainsbury. Why not use some photos, get your customers to name cows, get free educational materials from The Dairy Council etc. Apart from not really costing more than some time and effort it might educate the customer and let them know that you care?

So, Milk, ubiquitous and unnoticed until someone forgets to get some in!

©Taylerson’s Malmesbury Syrups

Your test results are available! (our on-line survey results are in)

In July we conducted a short on-line survey. The participants were adults across the whole range of ages and fairly evenly split male/female. Some of the results look similar to previous surveys of this type so we are confident that the results are revealing and a good indication of sentiment.

What did we discover?
The big news we think is that tea drinking is still as strong as ever but Flavoured tea is now 8% of the total mix of beverage consumption. We know that teas in all forms are increasingly popular and we have seen some of our flavours like Ginger, being popular in things like green tea so a pleasing result.

What people tell us they like to drink

fig. 1.

From previous experience this fig.1 split of beverages or ‘share of throat’ as the research folk say looks a fair reflection. If you add the flavoured and non-flavoured teas and the coffees together it means that tea and coffee are an equal split. The surprise to others might be just how much flavoured tea and coffee there is consumed. Historically we as a nation of Brits have not consumed lots of plain milk on its own. However, we do quite like a flavoured version, cold or hot. Flavouring-it; be it a form of coffee or malty drink makes it more popular. The Frappe (the grown-up name for flavoured milk) has helped and with coffee shops inventing their own versions of Frappes; this is a growing trend to watch.

What time of day do we like what?

 Fig. 2.

The table above shows just how important variety is to us all. These are the preferred beverages by time of day. Remember this is a good cross section of everyone hence a lot of averaging will be going on. Had we put alcohol on the list of choices we might have a different picture here for evenings but that is for another time. Below is more analysis of the key times of day.

What do you prefer to drink with your breakfast?

Fig.3.

Breakfast, best meal of the day?
Well that is what is should be. It’s also historically been the biggest opportunity for milk and milk based breakfasts. The trend in other countries for flavoured milks on cereals might have an impact here too. We think we will explore in future surveys which flavours we prefer as a nation at breakfast which also is becoming ‘sweetened’ rather than ‘savoury‘. The big news is just how many people consume water or a soft drink. That might be more about the non-breakfast consumed on-the-move?

Mid-afternoon beverages
Look what happened in the afternoon; and let’s remember that this is a summer survey so when proper cold weather arrives this might change!

Fig.4.
Highlighting what flavours can be associated with different drinks. The survey includes in-home use and we were surprised a little by just how many people choose drinks to consume in-home that previously would have been consumed out-of-home. Therefore this might not reflect what you offer in you’re a coffee shop however, if you don’t offer the choice then people won’t be able to exercise it, unless of course they go somewhere else?

What are your favourite flavours?
The survey was after all about flavours. We must admit there were few surprises here for us as the ‘usual suspects’ came top of the list. We suspect that the time of year and the season can affect flavours. If we asked the same question at Christmas (and people had time to answer) the results might be very different. However, lots of great suggestions as to what other flavours people wanted. The only issue is everyone wants something different, so we might consider ourselves lucky that there are some general favourites.

The usual suspects?

Fig. 5.

For more information see http://www.malmesburysyrups.co.uk/trade

Ooh that’s a bit Smooth- for a coffee shop

Smoothies seemed to first emerge as a ‘category’ back in 1998 when other countries such as Australia and America were talking about them.

Smoothies are seen as healthy and indulgent- but what is stopping you customising?

In reality they were as much about being fruit (vegetable) and a healthy ‘alternative’ to the dairy based  offerings at the time – Yoghurt drinks and milk shakes etc.

Smoothies since then have augmented into a lose term for  a grownup’s drink that could be fruit, dairy or even a fermented something that might or might not be good for you.

Where do syrups fit in? Syrups are of course a brilliant way of customising and making different the popular standard fare. So its an ingredient in existing Smoothies that means you can charge more? Sort of; a good example would be your usual fruit Smoothies- at Christmas adding Cinnamon flavoured syrup or the popular Mulling syrup makes the smoothie a ‘Christmas/winter’ smoothie. Apple, orange and some of the berry flavoured Smoothies are suitable for this sort of treatment.

Easter; customising the existing Smoothies with a potentially seasonal flavoured syrup can  help attract new consumers and add value. Chocolate based flavours are an obvious; Mint, Choc  Choc.Orange etc.  These tend to work with the diary Smoothies and especially  where a denser colder product is offered. Interestingly; yoghurt based Smoothies where a stronger texture is used works best with the sweeter fruity flavours like chocolate, Banana,  Strawberries & Cream etc , But also flavours that mimic other traditional flavours are easily mixed into seasonal  traditions; Hot Cross Bun flavour and Christmas cake flavour have worked very well lately although eggnog is very much an ‘acquired’ flavour

In short; syrups can make Smoothies more adaptable, engaging and ultimately more profitable.