90 Years of Grocery Retailing Innovation

How to Plan Innovative and Effective Supermarket Trade Promotions

Esther Psarakis, founder of Taste of Crete, was at the ShopRite Grocery Shipper Show at Raritan Center in New Jersey.

This show is for existing brands carried at ShopRite chain. Brands erect their displays at the show and ShopRite Co op Members and store managers are pitched to take these shippers into their stores supporting trade promotions. Shippers and Displays increase revenue and profits for the brands and retailers. Esther said "This is a way to expand the brand reach. We (Taste of Crete) are working on shipper designs for our Taste of Crete Wine Cookies"

Trade Promotions

In-Store Retail Marketing (trade promotion) is a necessity for most foods sold at the supermarket. Promotions stimulate Trial and Repeat Purchase. Most importantly they generate important Impulse Sales... products that are not on the grocery list yet land in your cart!

In-Store Displays

click for larger image

Shipper-Type Promotional Displays or sometimes just referred to as "Shippers" are effective ways to increase trial and repeat purchase in the grocery store. They take all types of forms ranging from corrugated cases with a cut-out's like the Pretzel Crisp display shown here to pallet program displays like the picture of Chubby Carbonated Kids Beverages. The brand says that "Now with 25% LESS SUGAR! Chubby is a 250ml carbonated beverage targeted to children 4 to 9 years of age...".

So if you are shopping with the kids and you round the bend smack in front of you is huge display of fruit colored beverages with a topper... do you think you are leaving the store without buying some Chubby?

It Takes More Than Great Taste to Sell Food in Supermarkets

Retail Food Marketing focuses on many aspects of a brand, obviously taste is one. Notice how Chubby has a sign that tells retail buyers theSuggested Retail Price (SRP), 3 for $1.00 AND the Gross Margin, 34.6%. Those are called Merchant issues and without addressing, price and gross margin, you are not getting on the shelf no matter how great your product tastes.

How Can You Increase Sales with In-Store Displays?

Pretzel Crisps VP of Marketing Perry Abbenante, for Pretzel Crisps knows retail marketing, he was the Senior Grocery Director at Whole Foods Market headquarters in Austin, told me in an article onHow to Make Promotional Ideas Effective at the Supermarket. The article is a great How To that should give you inspiration to get your products flying off the shelf and on to the consumers plate.

Source: http://goo.gl/CJDby

What a Smartphone and QR Code can Offer Your Retail Store: Learn from Homeplus Virtual Store

Okay, okay – you might answer “it’s easy, you moron! Scan a QR Code and you’ll get the retail store’s contact info, web address or special promo” Well, you are right – but that’s what MOST stores incorporating QR codes do. Homeplus is an example of a company which takes things a few steps further (or closer?) Read on to find out…

If you want breakthrough to your small business, you should go for the mainstream ways. You should do things differently. Why bother doing the same things 1,000s others do? Embrace innovation – it’s not as obscure as you might have thought!

I just written about why small businesses should go mobile to engage customers and prospects; the underlying reason is that we can’t expect to build something and have people flock to our business; that’s so last season! You should now be more proactive than ever, and there is not better medium today than smartphones (and tablet PCs.)

What I wrote was actually the basics – e.g. building a mobile app to engage customers and funnel them into your sales funnel. There are actually many ways you can develop things based on the basics – all you need is a pinch of creativity and a spoonful of courage.

One of the companies embracing mobile tech trends is Tesco. Expanding to Korea, Tesco – one of the leading click-and-mortar online supermarket headquartered in the United Kingdom – must think a way to grab a piece of South Korean F&B retail market pie; it’s a challenging feat – why? Because they need to compete with E-Mart, the market leader. Moreover, retailing is in a continuous slump; will Tesco be able to win customers and generate sustainable profits?

Competing head to head can be very risky – and resource-intensive. You see, Tesco was virtually a newcomer; launched in Korea under a different name, Home plus, the retailer needs to find a different way to grab the market share. One of the ways is by embracing technology.

When it comes to Korea, you can be sure that Koreans are tech-literate; they are heavy gadget users. Korea’s brand names are global household names: Samsung and LG, anyone?

With the continually rising mobile trends, Home plus decides to pursue something that has never been done before: Establishing a virtual store – with a twist: Instead of having consumers to go to the virtual store website to start shopping, they can do so… while waiting in the subway stations.

Subway stations? Why? How?

South Korea is the second most hardworking country in the world. Office people are working long hours, and they hardly have a chance to shop for groceries. Online shopping is common in Korea, but more convenience wouldn’t hurt…

Home plus brings the store right on the places where many Koreans stay for some time. No – it’s not restaurants or clubs; it’s the subway stations.

Not opening a kiosk or something similar, Home plus makes a great use of technology to offer the convenience: People can buy products right from the subway station – how? Home plus “furnish” the subway with “wallpapers” – they don’t contain advertisements; they contain life-size images of products you can typically find on Home plus stores. There are price tags and QR codes on every product.

Here’s how it works:

With your smartphone, just scan the QR codes of the products you want to buy – then you will be brought to Home plus online shopping cart to pay online and fill in delivery details – all done while waiting in the subway station. As you arrive at home, you will find your groceries delivered right in front of your door step.

Just watch this interesting video to make sense:

…and here’s the coverage from Japanese news channel NHK on the virtual store:

As you can see, technology adopted right can offer convenience.

Takeaway

As I have mentioned before, adopting technology for tech adoption sake is probably the biggest mistake you can do as a small business owner. You need to know whether a particular technology adoption can give you a healthy return on your investment.

What Home plus does with their innovative shopping experience may not be for your retail shop, most likely due to the sheer size of the projects and the amount of investment required to make it happens. However, I do hope Home plus virtual store’s mobile shopping can inspire you to think outside the box.

The same technology can be adopted to build something different; don’t reinvent the wheel – just take the available technology and make it your own.

Have a plan ready to do something close to what Home plus has done? Well, stop waiting; just do it.

An Innovative E-commerce Bonanza launching soon- Nature’s Feast

Nature’s Feast, an innovative e-commerce portal is soon launching its services in the segment relating to grocery, stationery, health and beauty. The venture ideates to revolutionize the way people shop online by giving them an innovative shopping experience over traditional grocery shopping.

Headquartered in Pune, Nature’s Feast aspires to provide its consumers a unique shopping experience and also great comfort with its quality services. The company has made a distinctive place for itself through its tie up with over 300 farmers all over India to source fresh vegetables and food products at best possible price.

Nature’s Feast has an edge over others especially with its field of specialization in Fruits & Vegetables, Grocery, Health & Beauty and other Stationery products. The Express Shipping Delivery has the power to make this shopping experience quite fast and smooth.  The Express Delivery service assures same day delivery @Rs.2999/ Year for unlimited times. The orders are accepted through call/website/mail.

Ms. Tejaswini Kharade, Director, Nature’s Feast says, “We at Nature’s Feast differ from other E-commerce players through our Low Price Guarantee (LPG), efficient Home Delivery Model and offer a wide assortment of FMCG/CPG products. We offer genuine products as they are directly getting sourced from companies & farmers. Our target audiences are all the people who look forward to purchase grocery items at economical price points”

As part of our future plans, we will soon be introducing Mobile app to help customers place orders through their smart phones. Also, till next year we are looking at opening 30 exclusive E-retail services in different cities.

Source: Knowahead (http://goo.gl/WUw62)

Michigan Tech Scientist Honored for Food Safety Innovation

Microbes lurk almost everywhere, from fresh food and air filters to toilet seats and folding money. Most of the time, they are harmless to humans. But sometimes they aren’t. Every year, thousands of people sicken from E. coli infections and hundreds die in the United States alone. Now Michigan Technological University scientist Jaroslaw Drelich has found a new way to get them before they get us.

His innovation relies on copper, an element valued for centuries for its antibiotic properties. Drelich, a professor of materials science and engineering, has discovered how to embed nanoparticles of the red metal into vermiculite, an inexpensive, inert compound sometimes used in potting soil. In preliminary tests on local lake water, it killed 100 percent of E. coli bacteria in the sample. Drelich also found that it was effective in killing Staphylococcus aureus, the common staph bacteria.

Other studies have shown that copper is toxic to Listeria, Salmonella and even the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA.

Bacteria aren’t the only microorganisms that copper can kill. It is also toxic to viruses and fungi. If it were incorporated into food packaging materials, it could help prevent a variety of foodborne diseases, Drelich says.

The copper-vermiculite material mixes well with many other materials, like cardboard and plastic, so it could be used in packing beads, boxes, even cellulose-based egg cartons.

And because the cost is so low — 25 cents a pound at most — it would be an inexpensive, effective way to improve the safety of the food supply, especially fruits and vegetables. Drelich is working with the Michigan Tech SmartZone to commercialize the product through his business, Micro Techno Solutions, the recipient of the 2012 Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest Food Safety Innovation Award. He expects to further test the material and eventually license it to companies that pack fresh food.

The material could have many other applications as well. It could be used to treat drinking water, industrial effluent, even sewage. 

“I’ve had inquiries from companies interested in purifying water,” Drelich said.

And it could be embedded in products used in public places where disease transmission is a concern: toilet seats, showerheads, even paper toweling.

“When you make a discovery like this, it’s hard to envision all the potential applications,” he said. It could even be mixed into that wad of dollar bills in your wallet: “Money is the most contaminated product on the market.”

Drelich’s initial research on the copper-vermiculite materials is described in the article “Vermiculite Decorated with Copper Nanoparticles: Novel Antibacterial Hybrid Material,” published in 2011 in Applied Surface Science. The coauthors are Bowen Li, Patrick Bowen, Jiann-Yang Hwang, Owen Mills and Daniel Hoffman.

Frozen Food + Plastic Packaging = Less Food, Packaging Waste

Food waste is a global problem with many causes. Part of a series on the topic, this article focuses on how plastics used in frozen food packaging help reduce food (and packaging) waste.

How much food do we Americans throw out each year? It’s probably more than you think.

Although calculating food waste is a tricky endeavor, some experts estimate that food loss—from the farm through distribution to our table—is approximately 40 percent in the U.S.

Forty percent!

And here’s another gloomy statistic—according to EPA, more food becomes municipal solid waste “than any other single material … In 2010 alone, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated.

Just imagine all the time, energy, and resources involved in growing, protecting, delivering, preparing, and serving that food, as well as the accompanying impact on the environment. And then imagine simply throwing it all away. What a waste … And how is this sustainable?

While those are national figures, there are steps many of us take as individuals and families to waste less food. Here’s a look at one …

Plastic Packaging and Frozen Food

Although we all enjoy meals made from scratch with locally sourced foods, we can’t always buy local or find the right fresh ingredients at the local market. And sometimes we just don’t have the time to prepare such a meal (working late, daughter’s soccer match, son’s recital, second job, etc.). In those cases, we often rely on food from the grocer’s freezer section, due to convenience, availability of a broad variety of options, easy meal prep, and more.

And by doing so, we (perhaps unwittingly) often decrease food waste—which is frequently made possible by plastics.

Modern frozen food packaging has advanced dramatically since the 1920s when Clarence Birdseye developed methods for quick freezing foods. While frozen food today is packaged in many materials, technological advances coupled with the rise of the microwave have made plastics the go-to choice for many frozen food choices, from vegetable medleys to ready-to-heat meals to gourmet ice cream. Plastic packaging often leads to less food waste by helping preserve fresh flavors in frozen food, reducing spoilage and significantly extending shelf life.

And thin, lightweight plastic packaging also leads to less packaging waste. For example, many frozen ready-to-heat meals such as stir-fries now are packaged in thin, lightweight plastics that help preserve freshness. Today we can create quick and easy meals using minimalist packaging that can be scrunched up to about the size of a poker chip.

So we can save more food and grocery money and create less waste.

Here are some examples of how plastics help reduce frozen food and packaging waste:

• Airtight Freezer Foods: Under-protected food stored in the freezer absorbs nasty odors and flavors and then dries out, resulting in “freezer burn” and wasted food. Factory sealed plastic containers and bags help preserve the flavor, texture and nutrients of food bylocking out air. So we can enjoy ripe-picked fruits and vegetables that don’t spoil … find wild-caught, individually wrapped salmon filets from Alaska … and buy all sorts of prepared meals that create no food scrap waste. All protected by thin, lightweight plastics.

• “Active” Packaging: Sometimes called “intelligent” or “smart” packaging, active packaging helps protect both fresh and frozen food by doing more than simply containing it. For example, antimicrobials can be incorporated into the plastics used in packaging—this can help mitigate the growth of harmful microorganisms, which helps preserve food quality and results in less spoilage and waste.

• Plastic Steamer Bags: Many frozen food makers now sell a large variety of side and main dishes in lightweight plastic pouches designed for heating in the microwave. Consumers simply place the frozen package in the microwave, and moisture steams the food inside plastic pouch—in one simple step, with little cleanup and no food prep waste. These pouches now vary from single-serve to family size, so we can buy only the amount we need to cook.

• Do-it-Ourselves Frozen Foods: Today we package homemade meals, store-bought foods and leftovers in all sizes of plastic zipper bags—and then purge much of the air before freezing (pre-wrapping foods in plastic stretch wrap also helps). To take this concept even further, home vacuum sealers remove nearly all air from the plastic bag prior to sealing, which better protects food to reduce waste—this storage system is particularly popular with warehouse store shoppers and game hunters. Similar to factory sealed packaging, these lightweight plastic bags help reduce the food’s exposure to air, which increases shelf life and reduces spoilage.

• Recycled Plastic Packaging: Thanks to new recycling technologies, some frozen food makers are using recycled plastics in their packaging. One major frozen food maker uses plastics from recycled plastic bottles in frozen meal trays for several of its food brands—the company says this diverts an estimated 8 million plastic bottles from the waste stream annually, which results in less valuable material buried in landfills.

And while these advances may be apparent to us as consumers, we probably don’t often see the plastic packaging that protects bulk food during transport and the enormous amount of frozen food sold to restaurants and institutions, which also helps greatly reduce food waste.

Innovations in plastics and other technologies will continue to lead to advances in frozen food and other packaging—advances that allow us to store food better and longer, with less packaging waste. That sounds like a recipe we all can follow … and a rather sensible contribution to sustainability.

Source: http://goo.gl/vJooF

The Future of Retail: Reinventing and Preserving the In-Store Experience

Consider retailing a two-pronged challenge: On the one hand, retailers must accommodate the increasingly mobile consumer. On the other hand, the traditional retailer can't ignore the need to drive that consumer to a physical store. 

As highlighted in our previous post on the future of retail, there is a flurry of activity surrounding online retail initiatives right now, with particular emphasis on mobile. Mobile payments in particular are getting a lot of attention as retailers figure out ways to transfer the shopping experience to every sort of handheld device.

But there is an equally intense effort to reinvent the traditional store. In fact, many retailers are beginning to realize that rather than close stores, they can sustain them by giving them a much-needed facelift. More than a surface makeover, however, reinventing the store involves a thorough rework that often includes a growing trend: creating a "brand story" to engage and involve a consumer in the shopping experience.

Not surprisingly, this trend may bring with it interactive, intuitive and  futuristic elements, such as virtual shopping screens, audio/video presentations, QR code integration and even robotic store displays.

As Interbrand points out in its just-released Best Retail Brands 2013 report: "The store, as the heart of the brand and its emotional center, cannot be starved of investment and innovation, or appropriate levels of design, media and technology. It needs to be the showcase for interesting new collaborations to keep things exciting, whether it's a luxury jeweler or a humble dollar store."

The report continues, "In the future, retail stores will look different than they do today. The digital dimension and corresponding consumer behavior continue to evolve and change the way a brand experience is delivered. Now that the idea of shopping can't be anchored in geography or managed as an event, the brand experience is too important—and holds too much promise—to be ignored. It's critical that retailers focus on enhancing brand experiences no matter where they are."

While the overarching strategy is store reinvention, the manner in which specific store brands, or even retail shopping areas, accomplish such a feat varies widely. Take the iconic British "high street" strip of stores and small businesses, which until the financial crisis hit bustled with shoppers. The complexion has changed dramatically since the 2008 recession. Vacancy rates are skyrocketing and chain stores are closing their doors. 

But today, there is a slow rebirth occurring, thanks to the growth of smaller, specialized shops that cater to particular tastes—like Ms. Cupcake, a high street establishment in southwest London's Brixton area selling "the naughtiest vegan cakes in town."

Independently-owned stores "account for two-thirds of Britain's high streets," reports The Economist. "The number of independent bakeries on high streets rose by 17 percent from August 2011 to July 2012, according to Simply Business, an insurance provider. Besides quirky, independent outlets, the businesses faring best often provide a service."

British retailers have gone out of their way to make a lasting impression on today's consumers. One novel approach designed to stop shoppers in their tracks was renowned department store Selfridge's "No-Noise" in-store experiment in January that featured name brand products with no logos. Why? "To help you find balance in this fast-paced world," says Selfridge's.According to the store's creative director, Alannah Weston, the silent shopping space cleansed the palate for the new year, inviting "customers to find a moment of peace in a world where we are bombarded by a cacophony of information and stimulation."

Iconic British brand Burberry, on the other hand, has relied on digital and high tech for its brand of reinvention. For the grand opening of its largest store in Asia Pacific last April, Burberrydramatized its bad weather gear by making it virtually rain during its "Burberry World Live" launch. Then in September, Burberry turned its flagship London store on Regent Street into a "living website"—a digitally-enhanced shopping experience that filled the 44,000-square foot space with innovations of all kinds (including that previously debuted digital rain). For its Chicago store opening last December, the store hosted a unique local event that continued its theme of "retail as theater," meshing digital, entertainment and fashion in a seamless experience.

UK-based Marks & Spencer recently installed 10 virtual mirrors in their retail stores to coincide with their virtual mirror application available on their website, the San Diego Business Journal reports. Customers can see, in-store, what a particular shade of eyeshadow looks like or how a punchy shade of lipstick looks against their skin, without the makeup ever touching them. "The days of old-fashioned dressing rooms are numbered," said Vipanj Patel, CEO of TAAZ, which owns the chain, in a statement. Patel notes that this particular technology is extremely valuable within an industry with so many choices and possible combinations, allowing consumers to recreate looks seen in-store without the hassle of trying on or applying anything. 

Small retailers are also using digital in innovative ways to reinvent the shopping experience. In Seattle, Washington, for example, a tiny store called Hointer sells designer jeans for men. Nothing unusual so far. But the shopping experience is unique: consumers use a smartphone to scan a QR code or tap a tag on the products they want. Then the items are robotically delivered to dressing rooms. Shoppers can go online to request more sizes and colors. The purchase is completed via a slide-through credit card machine—and the shoppers exit the store without interacting with a live salesperson. Founder Nadia Shouraboura, a former Amazon executive, toldthe Seattle Times,  "The whole idea behind Hointer is to combine the ability to try on items with the very fast and efficient model of online shopping."

North of the border, meanwhile, Walmart and Mattel took advantage of last year's holiday shopping season to collaborate on Canada's first pop-up virtual toy store. Toronto shoppers were able to view three-dimensional toy images, scan a QR code with their smartphone and purchase the item of their choice—with free shipping if desired.

Interestingly, the store was set up in an underground tunnel where commuters pass by—echoing Tesco's HomePlus chain's 2011 augmented reality-based shopping experiment in South Korea (at top) and a more recent test involving online grocer Peapod's virtual store in Chicago. Peapod wrapped a commuter station tunnel with graphics that looked like supermarket shelves filled with products. Shoppers could then scan QR codes of the virtual products and instantly create an order for home delivery.

These are just a few of the examples that demonstrate the way in which retailers are reinventing their stores, mostly with the help of technology, and often with the integration of e-commerce. While any idea is fair game for the future, it may be some time before this latest idea takes hold with consumers: In a London shopping center, an enterprising company has set up a small 3-D printing operation. This makes it possible for consumers to actually order customized items to be manufactured while they wait instead of shopping around in traditional stores. As Adam Fraser of Nokia writes, "Imagine a one-stop shop where you can not only print household items, but also your clothes, and your dinner—to very specific requirements based on your preferences."

Okay then... print me a pair of jeans, and make it snappy!

IS IT SAFE TO EAT FISH PACKAGED IN CANS, LIKE SALMON AND SARDINES?

Food packaging of any kind can present health risks if there are unwanted substances in the packaging that come into direct contact with the food. These risk are not usually great enough for a person to automatically avoid the food, but if the food is a regular part of the diet (eaten several times a week or more over a long period of time), it may still be worth considering a change in the food selection.

With canned food, the risk is greater if the food inside the can is either watery and acidic (like canned tomatoes or canned tomato sauce) or if it is oily (like canned sardines and salmon). The risk is also greater when heating is involved. In general, we would place oily, canned fish like canned sardines and salmon in a higher-than-average risk category since there is often “double-cooking” involved (cooking prior to canning, and then heating in the can for sterilization purposes), and oils in and surrounding the fish can allow contaminants in the packaging to migrate from the can into the food.

Because many types of packaging can pose small levels of risk, the question is not whether canned foods like salmon and sardines can pose any health risk whatsoever, because we know that they may. The questions are really how much risk, whether the nutritional benefits of the canned food outweigh the risks, and whether there are any practical options for bringing these same foods into a diet in a different form. Let’s look specifically at canned salmon.

We include salmon among the World’s Healthiest Foods because this fish has so much to offer in terms of nourishment, especially in terms of its rare omega-3 fats. We believe it is always worth looking to find the least contaminated type of salmon (usually wild-caught Pacific salmon or organically farmed salmon). When it comes to fresh or frozen wild-caught Pacific salmon and organically farmed salmon, we believe the benefits outweigh the risks. We also believe this conclusion holds true for some canned salmon, but not in all cases, due to the issue of one particular toxin called bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is a chemical used in the manufacturing of some vinyl can liners, including those found in some canned fish. Researchers classify BPA as an “endocrine disruptor” because it has the ability to disrupt activities in the body’s endocrine (hormonal) system. We only seen a few studies that actually measured BPA in canned fish, and the results were mixed. Some of the studies showed contamination of the fish with BPA, and some did not. But to err on the safe side, we recommend that you avoid purchasing either canned salmon or canned sardines in vinyl-lined cans that contain BPA. We recommend contacting the manufacturers of these products to find out which ones are using BPA-free cans. If you cannot find BPA-free cans, you may want to consider purchasing the fish in another (non-canned) form.

The convenience of canned fish might make sense in certain circumstances, depending on where a person lives, the time of year, or other factors. In general, however, fish are like any other World’s Healthiest food: we are better off consuming fish in a form that is as close as possible to the whole, natural form.

References

•    Cabado AG, Aldea S, Porro C, et al. Migration of BADGE (bisphenol A diglycidyl-ether) and BFDGE (bisphenol F diglycidyl-ether) in canned seafood. Food Chem Toxicol. Food Chem Toxicol. 2008, May; 46(5):1674-80. 2008.

•    Dionisi G, Oldring PK. Estimates of per capita exposure to substances migrating from canned foods and beverages. Joint Industry Group (JIG). Food Addit Contam 2002, 19(9): 891-903. 2002.

•    Kipcic D, Vukusic J. Polychlorinated biphenyls in fresh and canned fish from the Central Adriatic. Food Addit Contam 1991; 8(4): 501-504. 1991.

Simoneau C, Theobald A, Wiltschko D, et al. Estimation of intake of bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether (BADGE) from canned fish consumption in Europe and migration survey. Food Addit Contam 1999, 16(11): 457-463. 1999.

Source: whfoods (http://goo.gl/NmDsi)

INTERNET ET LA VENTE DE PRODUITS ALIMENTAIRES

Le mardi 09 Avril 2013 

QUI SONT CES NOUVEAUX CONSOMMATEURS ? QUELLES SONT LES OPPORTUNITÉS ?

Professionnels de l’alimentaire vous souhaitez vendre vos produits autrement ? 

Et si vous envisagiez la piste du e-commerce ! Source d’innovation ou voie de diversification : de quoi s’agit-il ? Quelles sont les attentes de ces nouveaux consommateurs ? Mes produits sont-ils adaptés à ce marché ? Comment se positionner ? 

Le CERTIA Interface  et le Comité de Promotion  vous invitent à venir échanger avec leurs experts pour répondre à vos questions : 
- M. SURY du CREDOC présentera les acteurs et tendances du marché, analysera les profils de ses e-consommateurs et déterminera quels sont les enjeux pour le secteur alimentaire.
- 3 entreprises régionales de tailles différentes vous feront partager leur expérience de vente de produits sur internet.

La participation est gratuite sur inscription obligatoire.

INFOS UTILES

Lieu : Chambre d’Agriculture du Nord - Pas de Calais

Adresse : 56 avenue Roger Salengro
62051 SAINT LAURENT BLANGY CEDEX

Horaires : 13H30 - 18H00

Les résultats de notre étude sur les attentes des consommateurs Français

Vous le savez, Testntrust a publié récemment les résultats d’une étude réalisée auprès de 1.004 Français en collaboration avec EasyPanel. Cette étude visait à vous demander quelles sont vos principales attentes en matière de consommation.

Ces réponses nous ont permis d’établir un Top 5, et une liste de 10 attentes phares souhaitées par les Français, que Testntrust s’est engagé à communiquer à tous lescandidats à la Présidence de la République dans le but de connaître leurs différentes propositions sur tous ces points. Vous pouvez retrouver les réponses des candidats ici.

Voici les 30 propositions faites lors de cette étude :

¤ Favoriser les produits Made in France

¤ Réduction du coût des appels aux services clients et hotlines

¤ Limitation des frais (location, achat) pour l’accès au logement

¤ Accélérer le développement du paiement sans contact (NFC)

¤ Service minimum instauré dans les transports

¤ Supprimer le minimum de paiement par carte bancaire

¤ Accès à internet sur tout le territoire

¤ Amélioration de l’étiquettage sur les produits alimentaires (transparence des informations)

¤ Créer davantage de médiateurs auprès des consommateurs (cf.médiateur de la république)

¤ Donner un accès unique aux informations détenues par toutes les marques sur les clients

¤ Réduire la diffusion de publicités papier imprimées

¤ Augmenter la durée de rétractation à la suite d’un achat

¤ Développer les actions collectives (actions de groupes, « class action ») de consommateurs

¤ Développer les services administratifs via Internet (Caf, assurance maladie,?)

¤ Favoriser les téléchargements légaux de contenus par des prix adaptés.

¤ Obliger les distributeurs à vendre une part de produits locaux

¤ Ouverture des magasins le dimanche sans conditions

¤ Payer le traitement des déchets en fonction de ce que l’on jette

¤ Davantage de taxis et transports en commun

¤ Imposer l’accord préalable du consommateur pour le démarchage téléphonique

¤ Possibilité de changer de banque tout en gardant ses numéros de comptes (portabilité du compte)

¤ Régulation des coûts imputés par les banques sur les découverts

¤ Régulation des prix sur certaines catégories de produits et services de première nécessité

¤ Rendre gratuite la carte bancaire

¤ Supprimer les enquêtes de santé pour des prêts bancaires

¤ Développer l’identité numérique personnelle (identification certifiée des internautes)

¤ Faciliter l’accès aux voitures électriques en libre service

¤ Généraliser les bonus/malus écologiques pour tous les produits

¤ Faciliter l’accès aux données comparatives des complémentaires santé

¤ Plus de toilettes dans les lieux publics Source: http://goo.gl/QR4ex

Puratos confirms its continuous investment in innovation and R&D, with a new Global R&D Center

Puratos Group confirms its commitment to continue its investments in innovation and long-term R&D with a new Global R&D Center.The start of the construction of the new center, which will be built at the Group’s headquarters in Groot-Bijgaarden (Belgium), was marked with an official first stone ceremony in the presence of selected local officials, trade organisations and research partners.

The Global R&D Center, which is set to open by the summer of 2014, will play a pivotal role in  Puratos’ global network of innovation and research centers across the world. As a leading global  innovator in the bakery, patisserie and chocolate industry, research & development is at the centre of all activities of the Puratos Group. Mr. Filip Arnaut, R&D Director Group Research & Services Lab, comments: “R&D is the driving force behind our partnership with our customers around the globe. It is how Puratos’ long-term vision is translated into products and solutions to help our customers innovate
and differentiate more in the future.”

With three state-of-the-art research platforms – a food technology laboratory, a baked products laboratory, and a biotechnology and analytical laboratory – covering some 6000m2, the new center will become a global hub for collaboration and research. The facility will be open to Puratos’ global R&D team, as well as research partners, including some leading universities.

For Puratos Group, the new Global R&D Center is part of a broad and long-term investment plan, in which innovation and research play a key role. In the course of 2013, a regional R&D center for Asia will open in Guangzhou (China), with another major R&D center set to open in the United States next year. Mr. Daniel Malcorps, CEO of Puratos Group, explains: “It is our firm belief that continued investment in the future is the best way to overcome today’s harsh economic climate. By doing so, we can continue to innovate and to improve the products and services we offer our customers, as well as inspire our customers. Ultimately, we want to help our customers to become even more successful in their business. With this new center, we confirm this commitment to our customers around the world.”

Mr. Eddy Van Belle, Chairman of the Board of Puratos Group, continues: “For more than 90 years already, continuous innovation has been the reason for our success. It is a constant process of risk taking and perseverance, which has been the basis for many success stories, like the T500, the very first complete bread improver, which we invented 60 years ago. Many other important innovations have followed since and keep Puratos and its products at the top of providing innovative solutions to our customers.“

Source: http://goo.gl/7Usvg

Growing a Business with Refrigerated Display Units

Running a food or convenience store business from small premises may at first appear to limit the income that can be generated from that business. However even the smallest space can be transformed and revenue increased, with the right use of refrigerated display units.

Refrigerated display units provide the safe and hygienic storage of fresh food and drinks for customer selection in a retail environment. They come in a range of types to suit different businesses  and are designed to maintain product at a consistent temperature so food and drink is kept in optimum condition,  making it attractive to the consumer, tempting them to buy, and generating more money for a small business. 

This article will focus on the use of refrigerated display units in small shop premises to expand the range and the quality of what they can offer. 

We will present two possible scenarios in which the right choice of refrigerated display units can lead to business expansion and improved returns, particularly for a small premises business. Each scenario will focus on the use of a particular type of Porkka display unit and show how it can be appropriate to the setting and what products can be sold using it.

From Newsagent to Convenience Store

If space is tight in your premises then refrigerated display units take up little space along a wall and allow the sale of a variety of chilled foods. In newsagents this could mean expansion into a variety of chilled drinks, snacks and sandwiches, as well as the ability to chill chocolate items in the summer. 

Taking it one step further and using chilled display units to hold items such as milk, yogurt, cheese and prepacked meats immediately transforms the business into a convenience store, attracting a far wider range of customers. If space allows then additional units could also house ready meals, pizzas and deli items. 

 Alternatively, a  chilled display unit can be used to stock chilled beer and wine, offering added value compared to unchilled supermarket products.

Wherever footfall is high but floor space is limited refrigerated display units offer the opportunity to maximise business. The ability to be able to move and tilt the shelving units gives you the flexibility to show products to their best advantage. It’s also best if the unit has an open front so a variety of products can be displayed. An open fronted display unit also means the customer can choose the item they want easily and the unit is quick to clean and keep hygienic. Units may need to be moved around the premises for cleaning, maintenance, or for a shop move so castors are a good additional feature along with lighting in the top or sides of the unit to highlight the products on offer. To keep food and drink chilled overnight a night cover is essential so that a constant temperature can be maintained but running costs for the business are kept down. 

The Porkka Grandioso chilled display cabinets are ideal for this small retail environment. Grandioso units chill the items on display by forcing cold air onto each shelf. This gives consistency of temperature in the whole unit  keeping waste to a minimum  and giving perishable foodstuffs a longer shelf life. 

The Grandioso chilled display cabinets come in a standard 900mm width, a choice of 2 heights (1430mm and 1690mm) and a depth of just 742mm, making it a very feasible option for a small space.

From Bakery to Takeaway

In a business where food is your primary concern then a different type of refrigerated display unit may serve your purposes better. In bakeries, take-away outlets and sandwich shops multi-shelf units allow readymade sandwiches, baps, rolls, wraps and other baked goods to be displayed and for customers to help themselves. As well as the increased appeal to a wider range of customers, selling prepared food carries a higher premium and profit margin than unmade rolls or bread. 

Of course, with any perishable food item freshness of the product is extremely important. A refrigerated unit that uses a method of distributing the chilled air evenly is required so that baked goods, sandwiches and bread do not dry out whilst being stored. Increasing the shelf life of products increases revenue and cuts down on wastage. 

 Allowing customers to help themselves to the food on display also helps to keep staff costs down. A self service style refrigerated display unit is best for this and if your bakery or takeaway offers a seated area you would need a rail at the front of the unit where customers can rest a tray whilst choosing their food and drink. 

Porkka’s Service Line Showcase cabinets come in 2 widths (600mm or 1500mm) and can be connected together if you wish to have several display units in your premises.

These units have an open front for easy selection and at the back of the unit are sliding glass doors so staff can access the unit to re-stock. The internal shelves are refrigerated and will hold a variety of take-away items in addition to baked goods, such as fruit, yogurts, drinks, salads and savouries. Shelves are lit which adds to the presentation of the items on offer. Non-chilled items, such as crisps, biscuits and crackers can be displayed on top of the unit. 

For additional storage chilled cabinets underneath the main display cases will hold extra stock at the correct temperature ready for stock replenishment. 

Both Porkka’s Grandioso and Service Line Showcase refrigerated display units are easy to use, maintain and keep clean and all Porkka’s products meet European hygiene standards for the storage of chilled items. These units are also hard wearing and long lasting, making them an ideal investment for any small food or retail outlet. 

Refrigerated Display Units

Insects: The new protein source?

When I was in Mexico City a few months ago, I ordered some guacamole with a twist; sprinkled on top of the avocado-rich treat were some roasted, salted chapulines (that's Spanish for crickets). Though I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, I don't have a problem with bug consumption, and I've always been interested in eating insects, since they are low-impact to raise, abundant and protein-rich. 

Those I tasted at the high-end lunch-spot in Mexico City had a mild, smoky flavor (I'm not sure if that's their regular flavor or if they were smoked) and were well-salted, which made them a tasty accompaniment to the lemony, buttery guacamole. I enjoyed them, and though I spied a few legs here and there, they were mostly well-chopped, and not necessarily identifiable as bugs at all; without looking, and if I hadn't known they were there, I would have guessed they were some smoked and dried toothsome onions. I would have no problem eating them again, though I enjoyed them more as a garnish (albeit a heavy one) rather than a main course. 

But there are people the world over who do consume insects (a practice called entomophagy) as a main part of the meal, from Thailand, where woodworms, crickets and bamboo worms are fried up and seasoned with something like soy sauce and pepper and enjoyed with a beer, to Ghana where termites are ground up into flour or roasted — food that tides people over nutritionally until spring crops start yielding food. In addition to chapulines, ant eggs, caterpillars and various worms are enjoyed in Mexico every which way (including in mezcal), and in China larval forms of various insects are enjoyed, including silk worm and roasted bee larvae, as well as ant soup. And in Brazil, queen ants (which supposedly taste like mint), are dipped in chocolate and munched down every October and November when they come out of their nests in Silveiras, a town in the southwest part of the country. 

Here in the U.S., the Chapul Bar is the "original cricket bar" and is an energy/protein bar that's made from mashed insects and organic dates, nuts and chocolate. Each Chapul flavor is inspired by the region it comes from (and 10 percent of profits from that bar go back to help with water conservation projects in that area). I haven't tried them yet, but I'll be sure to review them soon! 

Besides being a good protein source, insects contain beneficial minerals and vitamins, and have a much (much!) smaller environmental footprint (with crickets the smallest of all) that other meats. For comparison, a cow's carbon footprint is about 2,850 grams of CO2 per kilo of mass gained, whereas for pigs it's about 1,120, sun beetles around 121 and crickets just 1.27. Not to mention water and animal feed savings! 

And insects are significantly healthier to eat than animals, too. According to the U.S. News and World Report travel section, "100 grams of top sirloin beef contains about 29 grams of protein in addition to a whopping 21 grams of fat, while 100 grams of grasshopper contains 20 grams of protein and a measly six grams of fat."

Since insect-eating is a cultural construct, if you find yourself disgusted about eating them, it's probably because of how you think about bugs, not how they actually taste (very few Americans I know have even tried them). Often the only time we have seen insects being eaten is on would-you-or-wouldn't-you gross-out TV shows like "Fear Factor."

Considering that, would you eat insects if they were cooked up? (I, for one, draw the line at eating them raw.) Why or why not? If the idea disgusts you, do you think you could get over it? What if you were visiting another country and everyone was eating fried ants at the bar? 

I already know my answer. What's yours?