GETTING READY FOR GROCERY
LITTLE APPLE TREATS
WHERE WE STARTED
Joanne & Dan turn their organic apples into award-winning apple cider caramels, dried apple granola, and the most delicious barrel aged apple cider vinegar. When we started working together their products had a strong following at the farmers’ market and they were poised to expand production and launch into local grocery. But they were loosing money at wholesale and had gotten feedback from buyers that their packaging was lacking. We needed to enhance their packaging AND bring down their cost of goods (now that’s a challenge!) all while making sure the customer in a grocery aisle was introduced to Joanne & Dan as if they were at their market booth.
KEY TAKEAWAY
there are ways to benefit from economies of scale at any size!
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED
wrote & secured funding for two $100,000 VAPG Grants with the USDA to support a brand-redesign
increased wholesale margins by 30-40% on multiple SKUs by making small tweaks to formulas and designing labor-saving packaging solutions
encouraged more SKU sales per store by both narrowing down flavor options and finding ways to differentiate between flavors
up-leveled packaging quality
refined romantic text to connect to customers in a grocery setting -> yes, they secured their first grocery account after the redesign!
“Ellen provides immeasurable help in keeping our food business healthy and growing. The USDA value-added packaging grant that she got for us was critical in improving our branding, leading to a huge jump in sales and the ability to be picked up by larger accounts such as Eataly, Oliver’s and BiRite Markets. And she helped us set up a system for batch records and file management. Plus she’s a delight to work with, and is able to be both focused and fun at the same time, which is rare. I can’t recommend her enough! ”