Botanical Foods Company Ltd.
Gourmet Garden - Engaging the Inner Chef
Case Study on Excellence in Food Exporting
Prepared for Bord Bia Brand Forum 2011
1.
Introduction
Established in 1999 by the Botanical Food Company, the Gourmet Garden range
of fresh herbs and spices became Australia‟s most widely distributed, branded
and processed food export in 2006. By 2010, the award-winning2 product range
was stocked in 14,000 retail outlets worldwide with markets including parts of
North America, the Asia Pacific Region and several European countries. Seven
years after first internationalising, there was still no equivalent product on the
market competing in this „on-the-go‟ segment of fresh herbs for home cooking.
1
Copyright © Bord Bia. This case study was prepared by Simon
Bradley as a basis for discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of an
administration situation. The author acknowledges the assistance provided by Jacqueline Wilson-Smith,
Head of Global Marketing, Gourmet Garden.
2
In 2006, Gourmet Garden won the Australian Export awards agribusiness category, Queensland Smart
Award - Food and Agribusiness category and numerous awards at the Queensland Export Awards
Gourmet Garden was a „Blue Ocean‟ brand – it had created an entirely new
proposition in the marketplace. Furthermore it was one whose management
envisioned international market appeal from a very early stage. Part of the
brand‟s success was certainly attributable to its patented Eva Fresh technology.
Credit, however, was also due to management‟s commitment to research and
development – even though management believed Gourmet Garden had global
appeal, it was five years before the company began exporting. When it did
however, it quickly became a highly-export focused business with a reputation for
innovation and branding.
In fact research was a core company principle valued in production and
marketing. In an interview in 2003, then General Manager Craig Agnew
explained, “consumers want to prepare high quality meals but with as little fuss
as possible, so our brand name was created to help capture the brand
proposition”. In 2010, as Gourmet Garden looked to enhance penetration and
distribution in select European and Oriental markets, Jacqueline Wilson-Smith,
Head of Global Marketing was considering what, if anything, in the brand‟s
marketing strategy should change.
2.
Going Gourmet
The product‟s unique value was that it captured the flavour, nutrients and vitality
of freshly picked herbs and spices in an easy-to-use tube package, transforming
home cooked meals in just moments. Key to this compelling proposition was a
breakthrough in processing and preserving fresh herbs developed by two
scientists, in 1998. Essentially the pair had discovered a way to retain the colour,
taste, aroma and nutrition of freshly cut herbs after harvesting for a period of up
to 90 days when stored in a refrigerator or 6 months when frozen. With the patent
in place, the technology was first commercialised in 1999 under the Gourmet
Garden brand.
2
The first stage in the patented process involved the harvesting of herbs at the
optimal phase in their growth cycles to ensure the maximum quantity of microbial
oils and antioxidants. These were washed, then blended with more antioxidants,
sugars and salts and packaged in transparent tubes for retail. No colouring,
glutens or preservatives were added to the product. All crops were harvested
under scientifically defined optimum conditions, complied with Australian organic
standards and were sourced locally from Queensland producers.
The popularity of using fresh herbs and spices had benefited from the boom in
reality television and celebrity based cooking programmes, re-igniting trends
toward home-cooking. Gourmet Garden appealed as a fresh alternative to using
dried herbs and as a way to liven up any mid-week dish. A report published in
20103 estimated that the market for fresh herbs and spices was set to double by
2015. In that same year, 2006, fresh herbs and spices was Australia‟s fastest
growing agribusiness sector and Gourmet Garden had captured 18% of the
domestic fresh herb market valued at about $AUS 75 million out of a total herb
and spice market worth an estimated $AUS 200 million4. By that time, the
business, which employed some 90 people at its facilities, was growing at 50%
per year and exports represented some 70% of the company‟s total turnover.
Sales growth continued upward and by 2010, the range had expanded to include
15 different herb and spice products available in 80-gram and 115-gram tubes as
well as the Fresh Blends range launched in 2009. These new flavours included
Thai, Mediterranean, Moroccan and Indian blends (Appendix 1) and a Steak
blend for the US market. Essentially, Fresh Blends extended the brand
proposition as Nick White, CEO of Gourmet Garden explained: “Fresh Blends
takes the hassle out of creating your own blend of fresh herbs and spices so it‟s
easy to create authentic meals at home in minutes”.
3
Synovate Aztec Shopper View Report, March 2010 in the The Future Looks Green for Gourmet Garden,
th
April 12 2010, http://viewnews.com.au/bm/community/sunshine-valley/sv-news/the-future-looks-green-forgourmet-garden-a-sunshi.shtml?16706
4st
AZTEC Retail Scan Sales Data in Gourmet Garden Press Release March 1 2006, Queensland‟s Gourmet
Garden is Australia‟s Top Agribusiness Exporter
3
That same year Fresh Blends range won Australian TNS Survey for best product
of the year in the Sauces and Marinades Category. Based on a survey of some
5,000 people, the TNS Survey was the only independent consumer award
acknowledging innovation. Winning the award was generally correlated with
increased sales afterwards5. In 2010 it was estimated that international sales
contributed about 60% of total turnover.
2.
Going International
Since commercialising the technology in 1999, management had intended on
launching the product internationally, convinced of its global appeal as a high
quality convenience food brand. But they also knew that the Botanical Garden
Company did not have the resources or skills to enter foreign markets
immediately. Secondly, it understood that while the core product was very strong,
branding and marketing were keys to international success that it would need to
develop. In the words of global marketing director, Jacqueline Wilson-Smith, “the
Eva-Fresh technology was a great door opener in every country”, but retailers in
each country would have different demands in terms of other elements of the
mix.
It began exporting to UK, US and New Zealand markets around 2003 in each
case using a different market entry strategy. In the US it partnered with local
brokers to develop and maintain relationships with regional retailers. In the UK it
entered into a joint venture with a local spice company to develop the market
while in New Zealand it engaged in direct exporting. In an interview at the time,
Craig Agnew described how market research was “a very powerful tool when
dealing with supermarkets we were able to say „look, we‟ve got what your
customers want”.
5
Poduct of the Year Award Winners in AFN Thought For Food online, February 15 2010,
http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2010/02/15/product-of-the-year-award-winners.html
th
4
Later as sales grew and markets developed, Gourmet Garden‟s strategies
necessarily adapted. In the US it began building its own direct sales presence
and distribution centre to manage US sales and service. Similarly in the UK it
also created a distribution centre to cater for European and UK sales. By 2007, it
had gained outright ownership of its UK and US activities creating new
opportunities for growth and indeed new challenges. One such was the
centralisation and organisation of all its sales data for the North American and
European markets. Another was managing stock levels of its fresh product for
the US market without tying up working capital unnecessarily. By that stage,
Gourmet Garden was available in USA, NZ, UK, Ireland, Spain and Germany
with prospects for further expansion. Such developments placed extra demands
on management resources and skills.
In 2008, CEO Nick White described Gourmet Garden‟s international branding
strategy highlighting “a strong focus upon innovation, a product that is
unparalleled in quality and the focus of bringing taste and aroma of fresh herbs to
everyday meals, coupled with engaging communication that uses multiple touch
points is the plan we have developed to build this brand globally”. That plan
involved some adaptations in the marketing mix to suit each market‟s needs and
preferences but also a refined understanding of the brand‟s positioning in
general. It also involved the development of a global marketing outlook headed
up by Wilson Smith who would oversee Gourmet Garden‟s development in each
market according to the corporate strategy for the brand.
2.1 Customer Insights
In developing its branding and marketing, the company had commissioned
SMART Agency – a leading Australian brand consultancy – to conduct consumer
research. Performing qualitative research on use and attitudes, including in-home
ethnographic research, concept testing and product usage trials, Gourmet
Garden hoped to gain in-depth insights as to how consumers perceived and used
5
fresh herb products. Research was undertaken in San Francisco, Sydney and
London.
Commenting on the project, SMART‟s planning director noted “it was identified
that the opportunity was similar to that experienced by the coffee market. That is,
for years, people drank freeze-dried [coffee] and then experienced fresh coffee.
We needed to communicate the role and benefit of the product but get people
involved in the idea and make sure it would work in multiple markets”. Critically it
realised the need to overhaul in-store merchandising, moving the herbs and
spices away from dried goods directly into the refrigerated sections with a
Gourmet Garden Fridge Rack – ensuring visibility while reinforcing the
convenience and aesthetic aspects of the product‟s design.
2.2 Market Developments
By 2006, when it won the Austrade Food Export award, Gourmet Garden had
exceeded it medium-term distribution goal. But developing a reliable distribution
strategy was an evolving process. Currency fluctuations, the costs of hiring
partial truckloads in the cold-chain freight sector and gasoline prices in general
complicated the export process for example. The company viewed the long-term
return as worthwhile, however. Investing in a direct presence based in Folsom
California, including a sales team and account managers, by 2010 Gourmet
Garden was available in a variety of supermarkets in 51 US states, virtually
nationwide.
After conducting an extensive market entry and development analysis for several
Asian countries between 2004 and 2006, Gourmet Garden launched in March
2007 in Hong Kong and later Singapore with Malaysia a longer-term objective.
Having secured funding from the Queensland Industry Development Scheme in
2007, Gourmet Garden had appointed a local agent to project manage their
Asian expansion. The Australian company estimated sales in the region would
reach AUS$2million by 2010.
6
Gourmet Garden Europe initially penetrated the UK through a joint venture
arrangement with British Pepper and Spice Company. By 2007 when the
partnership was dissolved sales had exceeded £4.25 million and nine blends
were available in the major UK retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury, and
Dunnes and Superquinn in Ireland. By reclaiming ownership over its sales,
marketing and distribution activities for the European market, Gourmet Garden
hoped to penetrate deeper into existing and new markets. The new sales
structure involved a directly employed General Manager for Europe, based in
Ireland.
2.3 Finding the Inner Chef
In terms of its promotions mix, Gourmet Garden had leveraged its extensive
market research to create a compelling brand and product but it also focused
heavily on low-cost communications including Public Relations, its unique
packaging, in-store merchandising and sampling, specifically free-samples to
recruit new customers. In Australia where it was more established it had invested
in above-the-line communications using celebrity chefs Dominique Rizzo and
Kim McCosker in television and print advertising to consolidate its position as a
healthy convenient food product and continue building the brand (Appendix 2).
In all messages the brand tried to communicate a sense of fun, convenience,
healthiness and empowerment as well as value for money by using nutrition and
price comparison charts as well as various kinds of sales promotions to
encourage switching, stocking-up or increase general sales.
Supporting these activities, Gourmet Garden hoped to use its various countryspecific websites and social media presence to build an online community
around cooking and improved nutrition through cooking videos, recipe ideas and
nutrition advice as well as to generate customer interaction through competitions
and its Facebook site for example (Appendix 3). Like many companies
7
embracing the web, there remained much room for improvement in terms of
website visitor numbers, and social media marketing.
Later in 2010 it launched an integrated television and print campaign in Australia,
New Zealand and the UK, represented its first major international above-the-line
branding exercise. Titled „Find Your Inner Chef‟ using humour, it continued the
focus on Gourmet Garden‟s central proposition of convenience, freshness and
quality (Appendix 4) while tapping into the long-term trends that had helped the
product‟s launch. Television adverts showed individuals in home environments
mimicking their favourite celebrity chefs as they added Gourmet Garden to their
meals to transform them into five star meals. This and other activities such as
participation in the Good Food and Wine Show helped to boost awareness in the
„foody‟ community as well as the wider general public. All brand related
messages were designed to infuse the idea of cooking with fun, reinforcing the
concept of customers as home-cooks instead of people who had to prepare food
to eat.
3.
Results from Export Expansion
By 2010 Gourmet Garden was firmly committed to its export markets. Some 60%
of total turnover was derived from these markets and sales continued to grow. In
Europe for example, already available in UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain, sales
expanded to Sweden and Slovenia in mid-2010 accompanied by new distribution
opportunities in the UK. Commenting on these developments, CEO Nick White
stated “this additional presence in Europe will definitely help us reach our goal of
12 million tubes sales this year”, more than tripling company performance since
2007.
But with growth came structural changes and increased demand for resources
and skills. Furthermore, own-brand competition had entered the market as Tesco
UK replaced Gourmet Garden with its own product offering. The TNS Survey
Award indicated to management that their core product and reputation for
8
innovation remained strategic advantages. Looking ahead to further growth in
international markets Wilson-Smith had to consider whether the current mix and
approach to market was the optimal one to gaining awareness and capturing
market share. A direct sales presence in Ireland and the US for example had
contributed significantly to market penetration. Further different expectations from
retailers in different countries made managing the several marketing mixes a
perpetual challenge to optimise sales turnovers. With sales steadily growing, it
was a strategic issue Wilson-Smith knew she and her team would need to
address if Gourmet Garden was to maintain its leadership position in fresh herbs
and spices.
4.
Key Lessons from Gourmet Garden
•
Management‟s commitment to strategic development of the core product
and its international marketing strategy from a very early stage.
•
Management investment in and support for a world-class product that
appealed to a consumer trend transcending cultural barriers: “on-the-go”
lifestyles.
•
The Eva Fresh technology allowed Botanical Food Company to create a
differential advantage and protect it.
•
Customer insight helped them transform the unique selling proposition into
a Blue Ocean opportunity.
5.
Appendices
9
Appendix 1: Gourmet Garden Product Range
10
Appendix 2: Gourmet Garden Australian Television Advert featuring
Dominique Rizzo and Print Ads featuring Kim McCosker
Appendix 3: Gourmet Garden Web Presence
11
Appendix 4: Find Your Inner Chef UK Print Adverts
12