Getting to Know Your Local Food Consumer
November 25, 2014
Jessica Kelly Direct Farm Marketing Program Lead
Business Management Unit
Agenda
• Foodland Ontario research through the entrepreneur’s lens
• Conducting business intelligence and marketing research
• Examples from local food businesses
Local Matters. • How might you leverage the strength of the
Foodland Ontario brand? • How do you express local to your customers
and in your brand?
What is Business Intelligence?
• Collecting and processing information about – Your industry; – Your business; – Your customers; – Trends in the regulatory environment; – Business opportunities and threats; and – Technological developments
Performing Business Intelligence
• Industry publications and information sources – Print or online publications; government resources
• Using your business networks – Sharing ideas and opportunities, networking
through industry associations • Direct observation
– Observing customers and competitors • Intelligence sources within your business
– Internal financial and sales records, feedback from staff
Marketing Research
IS… • A process to compile
consumer and market information about a specific question
IS NOT… • Just for new
businesses • Just about surveys • Always expensive
Steps for Conducting Marketing Research
1. Identify the Problem 2. Devise the Research Plan
a) Primary research b) Secondary research
3. Collect Data 4. Analyze Data 5. Report and Interpret Results
A Word About Online Analytics
• Free tools are available • Website stats to consider:
– Visitor counts – Technology – Referrals and sources – Bounce rates and exit pages – In-page analytics
A Word About Online Analytics
• Extends beyond website stats to: – Email campaign stats; – Online ticket/retail sales; – Social analytics (by social channel); – Online reviews (Trip Advisor, Google, Yelp…); and – Competitor analytics.
• Blog series current exploring these topics: – https://agritainmentweekly.wordpress.com/
Spirit Tree Estate Cidery
• Pizza tasting night to reward dedicated customers and gain insight to build inaugural pizza menu.
• Cider tasting panel with a food scientist to refine product characteristics.
Pizza # 1 Pizza # 2 Pizza # 3 Pizza # 4 Please rate each category out of 5 with 1 being
poor and 5 being excellent
tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
white sauce, potato,
proscuitto,rosemary & asiago
tomato sauce, wood-roasted red
peppers, mozzarella,
italian sausage
tomato sauce, pesto, oven
roasted tomato & garlic, chicken &
goat cheese Appearance
Smell
Amount of sauce
Sauce flavour Amount of Toppings
Crust Amount of
herbs/spices
Overall taste Ingredients to add/increase
Ingredients to remove/decrease
Comments
Murphy’s Farm Market and Bakery
• iPad point-of-sale to monitor customer preferences for products and packaging.
Outdoor Farmers’ Market, Covent Garden Market
• ‘Bean Poll’ to learn about visitors to the Outdoor Farmers’ Market.
Exploring Value-Added Opportunities
• A learning series that will help you make better decisions and increase profits by teaching you how to: – Generate new ideas for value-added products and services; – Assess your idea’s business potential; – Identify and manage potential risks; and, – Determine and plan what it takes to turn your idea into a
reality.
• Interactive webinars held over three lunch hours in February/March
• For more information visit ontario.ca/e996