Breaking into the UK grocery multiples with an existing brand
Objective
Mitsuba is an Asian snacking brand owned by Menken Orlando. With a range of authentic asian flavours and formats, the brand was already established in the European market.
The team wanted to bring the range to the UK but to achieve this, they recognised the need to demonstrate to retail buyers their understanding of the UK Savoury Snacks category, and why their products were worthy of getting onto the shelf
The team utilised a combination of consumer insight and market data to firstly understand the UK category consumer and then identify the commercial opportunity for the trade as part of the sell-in story.
TRKR carried out an in-depth survey of 1,000 Savoury Bagged Snack shoppers across the UK, exploring their behaviour in the category as well getting direct feedback on the Mitsuba range
With the resulting TRKR report, the Mitsuba team were able to understand:
Key motivations for buying Asian-inspired savoury snacks in the UK
Who buys Asian-inspired and how this differs by brand and Own Label
Barriers to buying Asian-inspired snacks
Preferences - formats, sizes and flavours
Why shoppers will buy a Savoury Bagged Snack brand for the first time
Initial feedback on the Mitsuba proposition
Preferences towards certain proposition features, flavours and formats
Feedback on the proposed price point
Willingness to buy the Mitsuba range
Approach
Outcome - first WH Smith…..then a national listing with Morrisons
The team then used a combination of market data & insight to create their sell-in story:
Opportunity for retailers to target consumers seeking Asian-inspired snacks
Incremental opportunities to help grow the savoury snacks category
Price positioning versus other competitors within the category including Walkers, Graze, etc.
The insights gathered helped align the team on key internal decisions including:
Which products to launch with
Who they should focus on for their marketing strategy
Key messages needed within their marketing to target a new audience in the UK
“Working with TRKR helped us gather the evidence we required to achieve traction in a new market. It supported our conversations with retailers and ultimately helped us secure a national listing with Morrisons. Without this evidence we’d havee based the whole story on what we thought to be true in the market which would have reduced our chances of success.”
Martyn Weller, Commercial lead, UK & Ireland, Mitsuba Snacks Ltd