FOODIE FANDOMS- Anyone for a new Beanie?
Recently, when researching for a client project I came across the new crisps brand SPUDOS, a UK crisp brand which everyone should check out. They’ve taken what many would have considered a category without much potential for innovation and novelty and turned it on its head, a real case study for all of us trying to add value to existing supermarket shelf staples. The basic difference between SPUDOS and your standard bag of crisps is that they are served plain and the consumer adds a sachet of flavouring to their own taste, ranging from predictables like Salt & Vinegar to Gen Z favourites including Nduja & Honey, Doner Kebab, Southern Fried Chicken and Chip Shop Curry. Oddly, it reminded me of a story where my father told me that’s how all crisps came when he was a child in the 50’s, before the advent of today’s familiar favourites like Tayto and Keoghs- a kind of a Back to the Future moment! They’re available online and come in binge-friendly bucket size. The range also goes into Spud Dust to sprinkle on any other food type you feel needs flavour enhancement and Chicken Gravy Mayo Spud Dip if you really want to treat yourself.
As impressive as that is in itself though, it’s not the main reason for this article. Instead, what really struck me as interesting and inspirational about SPUDOS was how quickly their site moves from selling crisps to selling ‘merch’. Yes, you too can wear SPUDOS-branded beanies, hoodies and T’s to really live their ‘cooler than thou’ brand values. These may be revenue generators in themselves but even if they just cover their own costs of production they can help elevate the brand to create an emotional connection, a community consumers can feel part of in our increasingly disconnected world.
Foodie Fandom is a recognised consumer lifestyle trend and you can learn more about it by checking out Cultivate, Bord Bia’s Consumer Lifestyle Trends analysis tool. Essentially, People are feeling disconnected from the systems they are a part of, be those political systems, community systems, or food systems. The rise of online belonging and digital fandoms has come at a time when people have also never felt lonelier in real life. Searching
for reconnection, people are looking for new ways to be together and to support one another without the fear of showing how vulnerable they actually are.
Another application of this type of fandom is the creation (or recreation) of cartoon-like characters that people like to associate with. Tony the Tiger from Kelloggs is having something of a resurgence. Christmas 2024 saw Kevin the Carrot help Aldi compete against its competitors. In addition to generating £618M in incremental sales it’s estimated that Aldi also sold £26.7M of Kevin-inspired merchandise.
So what do these new SPUDOS crisps taste like? I don’t know yet but my online order is on its way so if you see me around the corridors of our Global Hub in the coming weeks (likely not wearing the associated Beanie) feel free to ask!
If you’d like a chat about how Bord Bia can help you with brand development, packaging design or new product innovation projects please send me an email. Gary.osborne@bordbia.ie
Source: SPUDOS.com