Eileen Bentley, Senior Marketing Strategy Manager, Bord Bia
Over the last few years, food and drink manufacturers worldwide have been responding to the emerging consumer demand for vegan and vegetarian products. According to Mintel GNPD (2018), the snack foods category accounted for the largest share of vegan NPD and vegan was the third fastest growing on-pack claim for food and drink launches globally over the last five years.
Bord Bia’s Dietary Lifestyles 2018 study reported that plant powered dietary lifestyles are more prevalent among younger generations, more urban dwellers and among higher social grades. For vegans (63%) and vegetarians (45%) food choices are a big part of their personal identity.
Tapping into that consumer need for personal identity and expression is one of the elements that UK bakery chain Greggs used to great effect during the launch of their vegan sausage roll in January 2019. The launch exceeded the initial sales forecast by 70% and the reasons behind this particular launch success have been documented in a Global Data case study published last month.
The report highlights Greggs identification of trends, their adaptation to those trends and the identification of their core consumer target as the key factors in their success - their use of social media platforms to drive awareness among their core target and dismiss criticism for example is well documented in the case study. Also important was that the vegan product was not a big change from the original Greggs sausage roll - it is an easy to eat, on-the-go, and cheap product thereby avoiding any alienation of Greggs core audience.
Understanding the market and the consumer, how they are evolving into the future, where to focus and how to win are all critical elements of a commercial marketing strategy. To find out more about developing a commercial marketing strategy for your business visit www.plantogrow.ie or email plantogrow@bordbia.ie
References
Bord Bia Dietary Lifestyles 2018
Success Case Study: Greggs' Vegan Sausage Rolls, Global Data July 2019