Hampshire-based Vitacress was a well-established supplier of own label salads to European supermarkets when it took the decision to launch its own range of products. Its challenge was making its products stand out in supermarkets…
In 2001 Vitacress wanted to build its business.
A supplier of baby leaf salads in the UK and a major European grower and packer of salads and speciality vegetables for major supermarkets’ own label products, it realised that it needed to take greater control of the packaging and marketing of its premium crops under its own brand.
The company’s plan was to turn Vitacress into a consumer brand by launching its first branded product – Vitacress Baby Leaf Salad – in Portugal, where its Iberian regional headquarters are located.
Portugal provided an attractive test market for the business, as although washed and ready-to-eat salads have been available in many European markets for several years, Portugal’s first pre-washed bagged salads only went on sale in 2002.
Vitacress had three goals. Firstly it wanted to launch of Vitacress as a premium consumer brand. Secondly, it aimed to use this launch to increase group sales which, in turn, would make better use of its Iberian growing capacity, typically reduced to ‘tick over’ levels during months when UK farms could take over production.
Additionally, the company wanted closer control over marketing and packaging of its own products. Turning Vitacress into a consumer brand would overcome the company’s previous reliance on other brands to sell its wares, since a lack of control over how its products were presented and sold had become a major frustration.
To kick-start the process, Vitacress test marketed a non-washed bagged salad in selected Portuguese supermarkets for eight months. The product was presented in clear bags with minimal design. When the test showed a good level of interest, the company decided to launch Vitacress as a new consumer brand with its first three branded product lines going on sale in August 2003. The main product would be Vitacress Baby Leaf Salads, with leaves supplied by the company’s new manufacturing facility in the Portuguese agricultural region of Alentejo.
