Case study - Florette: Understanding habits to grow

Being the only brand in a category might sound like a dream to some, but as the only brand you need to earn your place on shelf by driving category innovation and growth. Florette faced exactly this issue as one of very few brands in the bagged salad category, which is dominated by retailer own-brands.

By working with the Kantar team, Florette were able to achieve a much deeper understanding of how bagged salad is consumed. Additionally, they were able to shape new products and messaging to target moments that offer opportunity to brand, retailer and category.

THE NEED
COMPELLING GROWTH
Florette were keen to look at opportunities to grow the category and their share of it. To do so they needed to create a compelling, evidence based innovation and marketing plan not only for themselves, but also to engage their retail partners.

THE APPROACH
SEGMENTING SALADS
After some initial exploratory work, it was clear that a better understanding was needed of how bagged salads are consumed: who by, when and what with. By using Kantar’s food Usage panel it was possible to answer these questions. The team then applied analytical techniques to convert this mass of complex data into a set of actionable segments that explained the eating occasions for bagged salad. This helped not only to illustrate current eating habits, but to identify opportunities for the future as well.

The segmentation was delivered to Florette through a combination of meetings and workshops within which the teams worked together to identify potential new products that they could create and the marketing actions which would support their growth.

The deep understanding that was achieved by the segmentation work helped to change Florette’s mindset in terms of the role their products play or could play in the future. It made it possible to identify the meal and cuisine types that are most important, the needs that consumers are trying to fulfil and the role that salad plays. It also explained which people are suitable as targets for specific products and the messages they would be receptive to.

As part of this project, the strengths and weaknesses of retailers in each of the segments were quantified as well as the formats and salad types that would be best suited to them. This helped to build compelling stories that Florette could share with the retailers.

THE IMPACT
CREDIBLE RESULTS
Florette took the segmentation work and used it as foundation for their entire category strategy. As a direct result they introduced several new products to their range, which quickly achieved listings at Tesco and later other major retailers. One of the products, which was named “Summer Mix”, achieved sales of £200,000 within just a few months of launch with a projection to reach £750,000 by the end of its first year.

Florette’s marketing agency integrated the learnings into their work which included revised messaging both on the website and packaging to help drive usage.

The segmentation framework which was introduced, and the new way of thinking about the bagged salad occasion, was used with retailers which helped to strengthen the brand’s credibility. Florette were able to advise both Tesco and Sainsbury’s on criticalstrategic decisions such as fixture layout, in-store communications, ranging and their approach to gondola ends, a key driver of impulse purchase.

Overall the project re-energised Florette’s business and helped them to understand what they needed to do to grow in the future.