ALBANY, Calif. -- Andronico's here held a two-week British food promotion last month that was more successful than others in the past because, for the first time, the advertising circular featured meal-solution ideas, many of them focused on Center Store items.
The circular contained a pullout section specific to British foods, showing pairings of foods such as cheese with crackers, beer and mustard and other condiments. It told the story of the origin of "a proper British tea," with Walkers shortbreads as well as marmalades and preserves, Twinings and Taylors of Harrogate Loose Tea, Altoids mints, Callard & Bowser toffees and the Tobler Chocolate Orange.
"We have a good clientele for gourmet food," said Rob Giusti, specialty food buyer for the chain. "We do several promotions throughout the year similar to this, but one of the nice things is the British one has some of our better sellers." All of the products were already carried by Andronico's; nothing new was brought in. Yet, Giusti believes a new look to the circular helped the promotion, and that a themed promotion is always more successful.
Treasure Island stores in Chicago also ran a British food promotion from Nov. 10-23 using such brands as Schweppes, Jacob's crackers, Robertson's marmalades, Sharwood's chutney and liquors such as the Tanqueray and Beefeaters brands.
Food From Britain, a Greenwich, Conn., marketing firm, partnered with these two retailers and the New York-based Food Emporium recently. In total, the company helps 30 U.S. chains set up British food promotions, according to Steve Dawson, president. "All the circulars are different," Dawson said. Typical are packaged products, like Twinings tea and Carr's crackers. Carr's, he noted, has gone mainstream, gaining mass distribution while retaining a specialty image. "That's the key to that brand," he said.
The hallmark of the promotion is packaged food, but also specialty beer, such as Bass Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale, Boddington's (which Dawson said is called "the cream of Manchester" back in the UK) and Samuel Smith's -- four imports that he said are doing extremely well.
Cheese and Scottish smoked salmon make up a third component, and the fourth thing the firm is promoting more and more is Indian food, Dawson told SN, "as Britain is the home away from home for Indian cuisine." Brands like Sharwood's and Patak's lines of cooking sauces, pastes and chutneys, along with Tilda brand specialty rice, can now offer a retailer an Indian-themed meal solution.
"We encourage retailers to group products according to meal-solution themes, such as the English pub lunch, grouping crackers, beer, chutney and cheese and a mustard; or an afternoon tea, an English tea, cookies, jam like Robertson's or Tiptree, and Devon cream. And also candy, Callard & Bowser toffees and Altoids mints, that sort of thing.
"We can also offer a great British breakfast, with tea, cereal like Wheetabix, jam, again. We are trying to encourage retailers to add complementary brands or private label items to round it out. An afternoon tea promotion could be held in the bakery and add muffins, breakfast rolls, even butter," Dawson said. For the Indian food promotion, his team encourages retailers to add chicken or meat from the meat department and spices. Dawson's firm has access to British government funding, to subsidize a portion of the promotion cost, or to help fund demos, he said. Mostly they target chains in major metro areas, which serve specialty shoppers essentially, all at different times of the year. Treasure Island is a good example, he said, along with Food Emporium, Harris Teeter in the Carolinas, and Vons Pavilion stores in Los Angeles. "Now is a great time, for the holidays, but we promote when the chain wants to promote," Dawson added.
"Being located near English people helps, but it's no longer essential. Now that we're focusing on meal solutions, the Britishness is less relevant. We're trying to sell specialty products to upscale consumers. People will buy a Carr's cracker because it's a superb product, not because it's British.
"We're here to build brands," Dawson said.
FFB works with about 100 brands but focuses on about 20 key ones such as the aforementioned Carr's, Twinings and Altoids, which Dawson said has become a $140 million brand that just launched a new cinnamon variety.
