Halen Môn Organic Anglesey Sea Salt
Seasoned with Innovation
Case Study on Excellence in Food Exporting
Prepared Bord Bia Brand Forum 20111
1.
Introduction
In July 2010, David Lea-Wilson, co-founder and Managing Director of The
Anglesey Sea Salt company was back in the local newspapers. A well-known
figure in the business community in North Wales, Lea-Wilson had just confirmed
a deal with Walker‟s Crisps to use his company‟s brand of premium quality
organic sea salts, Halen Môn, in their Red Sky gourmet crisp range, available in
four flavours in supermarkets across the UK and Ireland (Appendix 1). For LeaWilson‟s company it represented a significant boost, securing jobs and
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 Daivd Lea-Wilson co-founder
and Managing Director of Halen Môn.
underwriting investment in capacity expansion at the 13-year old business‟s
facilities on the Isle of Anglesey. Marketing high-quality „handmade‟ sea salt over
the years had been challenging but Wilson and his co-founder wife, Alison had
maintained their focus with a 10-year plan characterised by innovation and
entrepreneurialism. As the only organic sea salt in the UK, Halen Môn had built
an excellent reputation among chefs, opinion leaders and „foodies‟ in the UK and
farther afield. This next phase in partnership with Walker‟s Crisps and parent
company Pepsi Cola, presented opportunities to achieve mass-market appeal
while retaining their brand‟s craft origins.
2.
Making Money from the Sea
The Lea-Wilsons had a history of making money from the sea around Anglesey.
Having grown up in Uganda, David had pursued several career options before
settling in North Wales with his wife, Alison. The first venture was the
development of a lobster farm and processing plant. But business was slow such
that Lea-Wilson recalled the day when asked for the umpteenth time why live
lobsters were blue and not red, that „the penny dropped‟ and he decided to
transform the farm into the Anglesey Sea Zoo. Despite seasonality in the tourism
trade, the business survived for several years until their business partner decided
to sell up.
The couple however, believed they had a responsibility to their staff as well as
their family to identify a new venture. Working with a consultant from the local
Snowdonia Business Innovation Centre, they brainstormed over 50 eclectic ideas
any of which had to leverage their existing skills and facilities. Five years later in
an interview with the Guardian, David recalled how he “kept coming back to sea
salt; it was completely off the wall and nobody had done it in Wales since the
Romans”. Boiling a pan of seawater on their Aga stove, the first batch of Halen
Môn, translating literally as Anglesey Salt, was created. From then on, production
would adhere to principles of craftsmanship and quality. Recalling the brand‟s
values Lea-Wilson explained, “we knew we had something that looked different
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and tasted fantastic. We weren‟t going to use chemicals or factory methods. Also
we didn‟t want to go down the route to mass production because we could never
compete”.
In the beginning, money was especially tight; the couple had £10,000 to invest in
the venture. Figuring the market research alone would cost at least that sum, the
Lea-Wilsons began thinking laterally. David secured a travelling fellowship to visit
several countries including Spain, New Zealand and Japan to learn about sea
salt production. Meanwhile the couple recruited six postgraduate business
students from the Manchester Business School to conduct a market research
project as part of their coursework. Later they also recruited a postgraduate
chemistry student from the University of Bangor to experiment on extraction
techniques. It launched Halen Môn, in homemade cardboard tubes at the London
Food Show in 1998 securing orders from its local butcher in Brynsiencyn as well
as a high-end deli in London‟s exclusive Knightsbridge district. These were deals
that would characterise its sales profile in the coming years as Halen Môn
straddled between being a local craft food and an internationally renowned
gourmet brand.
2.1 Making Halen Môn
After testing the quality of the seawater along the coastline, the company laid a
special pipe out to a sand bank in the Menai Straights separating Anglesey from
the mainland, where the currents ensured the purest seawater. Filtered naturally
by the sand, the water was pumped ashore, filtered once again before being
heated under a vacuum to increase salinity from 3% to 15%. This concentrated
brine was then transferred into shallow pans where a gas heater mimicked the
effects of a Mediterranean sun, gently warming the liquid for 24 hours. Gradually,
flat white crystals formed and floated to the surface only to sink once more to the
bottom. These crystals were removed, rinsed in brine and left to dry for a further
day before being packed into the company‟s distinctive blue tubes. The entire
process took about ten days. While salt was not produced using an agricultural
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process, because Halen Môn adhered rigorously to a totally natural and chemical
free production method it had secured organic certification from the UK Soil
Association. It was the only sea salt in the UK market to have achieved this
status. Furthermore, the company prided itself on traceability, as each tube was
stamped with the initials of the person who packed the salt and the time at which
it was packaged.
In sea salt production, taste, texture and colour varied according to mineral
content, trace elements and evaporation techniques used. Distinct from other
products on the market, Halen Môn was characterised by its brilliant white
crystals, which, being relatively moist, were best served crumbled in the hand
rather than ground using a salt-mill. By 2010, the company had segmented
demand and were offering a range of products including Pure Sea Salt, Organic
Spiced Sea Salt, Oak Smoked Salts, Vanilla Sea Salts, Organic Celery Salt and
Diamonds of the Sea (Appendix 2). Launched in 2009, Diamonds of the Sea
were exceptionally large salt crystals used both decoratively and for flavouring.
They were totally unique to Halen Môn.
3.
Marketing Halen Môn
The company‟s strategy was to target private and professional gourmets and
opinion leaders, including restaurant chefs and celebrities, who would use and
appreciate the quality of their sea salt and hopefully recommend it to others. This
was done domestically and internationally using direct personal sales at food and
trade shows. The award-winning packaging played a key role in marketing Halen
Môn but the company also supplied its sea salt under private brands including
Marks & Spencer and Harvey Nichols (Appendix 3) while selling its branded
products through others such as Waitrose and high-end delicatessens.
Talking about the early years, Lea-Wilson observed that, “while growth was slow
at first, we gathered a superb and flaky sea salt with a distinctive taste, and this
led to many converts in the gourmet food sector”. Momentum to this approach
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was added each time a celebrity became a customer, for example Ferran Adria,
of Spanish 3 Michelin Star restaurant El Bulli restaurant and UK chef Heston
Blumenthal (Appendix 4). The latter eventually partnered with the Anglesey Sea
Salt Company to produce a range of flavoured salts and available through
Waitrose supermarkets. In another PR coup, Jamie Oliver also used Halen Môn
salts when asked to cook a meal for the G8 conference of world leaders in the
UK‟s Prime Minister‟s residence in London‟s Downing Street. Most recently news
that Barack Obama‟s favourite caramels, made by Seattle-based Fran‟s
Chocolates, were served topped with Halen Môn‟s sea salt crystals boosted the
brand‟s profile on both sides of the Atlantic.
Its prize-winning packaging and branding played a key role in supporting the core
product‟s high quality. This was upgraded with revamped branding in November
2010 (Appendix 5). The re-branding was comprehensive, including the website,
promotional materials, online shopping experience and the packaging. The use
of a variety of sales channels, opinion leaders and excellence in packaging was
augmented with PR in local and international press including food journals,
lifestyle and weekend newspaper supplements. These messages were designed
to introduce Halen Môn, educate readers about sea salt and build on aspects like
quality and provenance through retelling the brand‟s story with strong visuals and
copy (Appendix 6).
Sales promotions and special offers often featured high-quality accessories
complementing a culture of gourmet salt for example, pewter spoons and hand
blown salt bowls (Appendix 7). These products all worked to cultivate a sense of
authenticity and craftsmanship in the brand that was delivered upon with the
tactile nature of the physical product. As such it was important to maintain a
position of premium quality in sales promotions and avoid price related
strategies.
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Similarly the company invested in its online presence, particularly its own website
and a profile on social networks as well as sales through online retailers
(Appendix 8). The online shop was critical to the marketing strategy even if
sales volumes were relatively small compared to other channels. Online gift
packs and accessories as well as the full range of sea salts were available for
purchase. Management paid attention to the smallest of details such as online
pricing, which was lower than shop prices, but not significantly, so as to avoid
imbalances in the profile of demand in its sales channels. Finally, its presence on
Facebook had become increasingly important in cultivating a community of salt
gourmets. Leveraging its live and interactive features, Halen Môn maintained
regular updates on news, new recipes and developments for the company.
3.1 Long-term vision
It was management„s longer-term vision for Halen Môn that grounded early
successes with practical considerations. For example, a postcard from famed
television chef Delia Smith in 2000 complementing Halen Môn and advising that
Smith would be recommending their products on her website was a “Christmas
present we didn‟t want”, recalled Lea-Wilson. Management was aware of the
„Delia-effect‟ on other small producers and lacked the capacity to fulfil the
potential slew of orders ensuing from a celebrity endorsement at such an early
stage. Instead, management used the postcard to secure financial backing to
increase capacity.
3.2 Listening and Understanding
Management seemed to be culturally sensitive and interested in customer
perceptions. When new packaging and branding was launched in late 2010,
Halen Môn welcomed feedback from Facebook users (Appendix 9). Similarly,
Diamonds of the Sea were inspired partially by feedback from chefs around
Europe. Alison explained, “chefs are always looking for new products that will
stand out on a dinner plate and that is what we set about developing. These will
come served with showcase dishes.
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Having grown up in Uganda and travelled extensively, David‟s cultural
experience and sensitivities proved an asset to the company‟s marketing. While
Alison undertook most of the export sales work, Lea-Wilson pointed out that
understanding how different cultures used and perceived salt would be valuable
to any international sales and marketing activities. In David‟s experience, “salt
occupies a very different place in other cultures. In Japan it is given as a gift
when moving house or getting married and the better the salt the higher the
esteem shown”. In fact, the Japanese valued the brilliant whiteness of Halen Môn
over the slightly greyer French salt. Similarly, in Sweden it was the texture that
was important as the Swedes liked to use their fingers to crunch the salt over
their food.
4.
Growth and Internationalisation
By 2003, salt consumption in developed economies was becoming increasingly
sophisticated, much like coffee and olive oil. While the company was selling its
sea salt products nationwide in the UK through a variety of channels, exports
accounted for 60% of their business. Even though the Foot and Mouth outbreak
across the UK had damaged business, Halen Môn was experiencing
phenomenal sales growth rates of 40%. The perennial problem of managing
supply and demand with capacity constraints continued to nag management,
however. By 2004, the company was serving 22 export customers, including
business and retailers in Italy, Japan, USA and Spain, the world‟s largest sea salt
producer. Producing a total of about 50 tonnes of sea salt annually and hoped to
secure funding for a multi-million pound expansion to its processing facilities. For
management it was a critical stage in their 10 year plan, “we‟re at another
crossroads now, and if we don‟t expand we will regret”, commented Alison.
But the company failed to secure funding for the building project and decided to
expand using temporary buildings in a piecemeal fashion. This combined with the
hit on Halen Môn sales caused by the global recession beginning in 2007 made
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for challenging times such that the award in 2008 as Welsh Exporter of the Year
was important to the company, boosting team morale, raising the brand‟s profile
and enhancing credibility in new business development. That same year the
company added three export markets to its list, Hong Kong, Czech Republic and
the Maldives.
Even though business was steady and even expanding geographically,
management focused on cost control to ensure longer-term financial stability. It
needed some large accounts to underwrite future growth and expansion. As such
the six-figure investment resulting from the deal with Walker‟s Crisps,
represented a significant development for Halen Môn; under the deal their logo
would appear on every packet of Red Sky crisps in nearly every supermarket
across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Such exposure and the
injection of much needed capital was critical to supporting their next export drive
in 2011. Further, obtaining the BRC Global Standard that was recognised by
major supermarkets, presented other opportunities to the company in the
medium-term.
By 2011, the company had grown to employ 16 personnel with sales in 22
countries and co-branding agreements with Heston Blumenthal and Pepsi Co. It
seemed that Anglesey Sea Salt‟s star was rising.
5.
Key Lessons from Halen Môn
•
Through careful growth, targeting influential customers and seasoned with
an innovative spirit, Halen Môn had become one of the world‟s top ranking
gourmet sea salts.
•
The Lea-Wilsons had successfully carved a niche in the premium sea salt
market through effective word of mouth marketing and a strong core
product but their attitude was more holistic than simply the pursuit of profit.
•
Success was due to their long-termi view and an adherence to principles,
“we have stuck to our core values and strengthened them, getting even
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closer to our customers in the process. If it feels uncomfortable then you
are probably going in the right directions. Have goals and measure them
over a long period. I use a ten year plan and we have been knocked off
course many times but we are still heading at a target.” If there was one
thing they would have done more of it was scenario planning – the “what
ifs”.
•
Critical to the business survival was the spirit of innovation and
improvisation both proactively and reactively as circumstances dictated.
•
In tandem with this was the strong team culture evident in the low turnover
rates and the acknowledgement of the team‟s contribution to the company
to the business‟ success. For management, “the staff, the customers and
the product are all equal parts of the triangle. It‟s about making the product
special. The customers are long-term and sustainable and the staff are
absolutely key.”
6.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Red Sky Anglesey Sea Salt Pack and Red Sky Website
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Appendix 2: Halen Môn Product Range
Appendix 3: Own Brand Anglesey Sea Salt
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Appendix 4: Using celebrities
Appendix 5: Halen Môn Revamped Packaging and Branding
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Appendix 6: Sample publicity
Appendix 7: Sample Merchandise
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Appendix 8: Halen Môn Online Presence
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Appendix 9: Comments on Facebook
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