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Can your NPD drive growth in Foodservice?
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

Can your NPD drive growth in Foodservice?

On our recent webinar, Circana’s Gareth Nash presented market data that outlined the ongoing upturn in food service, as it continues to recover from lockdown.

Foodservice continues to represent an opportunity for food & drink manufacturers clever enough to capitalise on the upturn since COVID. And by clever enough we mean using the right blend of market data and consumer insight to get the biggest ROI on new product development in this area.

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The Shopping Mission - does up-to-date data shape your NPD strategy?
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

The Shopping Mission - does up-to-date data shape your NPD strategy?

What drives your NPD? Is it coming up with new flavours and variations in the kitchen, is it following trends in your category?

Do you come up with new product ideas, and then figure out how best to sell them to shoppers?

Or, do you think about the Shopping Mission and what your brand could do for the consumer, before coming up with new ideas?

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Taylors - same great crisps, different packet.
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

Taylors - same great crisps, different packet.

When a successful, well-known and trusted brand takes the bold move to both rename the business and redesign its packaging, they’re clearly taking a commercial risk.

Taylors Snacks, formerly known as Mackie’s of Taypack, or Mackie’s Crisps to most people, have done exactly that.

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How well do you know your category shopper?
Mark Thomson Mark Thomson

How well do you know your category shopper?

Speak to most retail buyers in 2023 and there’s one common theme. Value – identifying ways to offer shoppers value for money during the cost-of-living crisis.

So what does this mean for branded products this year?

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Protecting your core range in 2023
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

Protecting your core range in 2023

Our first TRKR webinar of the year was on the topic of ‘Protecting your core range in 2023’.

With guest speakers from IRI and Peperami, there were several key takeouts for food & drink suppliers to take note of.

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What Retail Buyers Want - Part 4
Mark Thomson Mark Thomson

What Retail Buyers Want - Part 4

Each quarter TRKR talk to retail category buyers to find out what’s currently important to them and, more specifically, what they expect from food & drink manufacturers when they pitch to them…

PART IV) THINK BEYOND THE INITIAL LISTING

  • Demonstrate how you’ll support the product listing ongoing

  • Arrive with a plan

  • Start small and scale up

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What Retail Buyers Want - Part 3
Mark Thomson Mark Thomson

What Retail Buyers Want - Part 3

Each quarter TRKR talk to retail category buyers to find out what’s currently important to them and, more specifically, what they expect from food & drink manufacturers when they pitch to them…

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Sobering thoughts….can Gin emerge from its current dip?
Flo Soutar Flo Soutar

Sobering thoughts….can Gin emerge from its current dip?

The Off-trade Gin category saw some sobering data in Q4…

Nielsen showed an 8.7% drop in value (-£105m) for the 52 weeks to w/e 20th Nov 2021.

Kantar’s 52 weeks to Sept 2021 data also showed UK gin growth lagging well behind other categories (£24m vs Rum £58m, Vodka £116m & Whisky £154m).

For context, this was on the back of 22% growth for the previous year, as many drinkers increased their Gin consumption at home during lockdown.

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What Retail Buyers Want - Part 2
Mark Thomson Mark Thomson

What Retail Buyers Want - Part 2

Each quarter TRKR talk to retail category buyers to find out what’s currently important to them and, more specifically, what they expect from food & drink manufacturers when they pitch to them…

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What Retail Buyers Want - Part 1
Mark Thomson Mark Thomson

What Retail Buyers Want - Part 1

Each quarter TRKR talk to retail category buyers to find out what’s currently important to them and, more specifically, what they expect from food & drink manufacturers when they pitch to them…

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HFSS….God, it even sounds dull. Definitely one to stick in the “to do” folder.
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

HFSS….God, it even sounds dull. Definitely one to stick in the “to do” folder.

HFSS – High Fat, Salt and Sugar. Cakes to cereal, pizza to prepared meals.

We don’t expect consumers to have much awareness of this, not individually at least. On a macro level however, there will hopefully be a positive impact on the health of the nation, especially for children, simply by reducing the promotional opportunity for unhealthy food and drink products.

But for food and drink manufacturers the impact could be a lot bigger, starting now.

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Launching a Premium Hot Smoked Seafood range in M&S
Carey McEvoy Carey McEvoy

Launching a Premium Hot Smoked Seafood range in M&S

Last month (April 2022) Marks & Spencer’s launched a new range of premium hot smoked salmon, mackerel and prawns, within their Collections range.

The launch was the culmination of a new approach to NPD taken by supplier Associated Seafoods (A.S.) based in Buckie on the Moray Firth coast in the North of Scotland.

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