nickshanagher

At the National Convenience Show last month I saw some newish suppliers that may be of interest to UK convenience stores seeking new brands to stand out from their competition. One that stood out was Just Crisps, a family business from Staffordshire, that is attempting to fill the family owned and up and coming brand gap created by Tyrrells having been sold to a private equity firm in 2008. Tyrrells used to get great reviews like "if you can get hold of Tyrrells crisps (usually in health and organic shops) don't baulk at the price. They are well worth it and very addictive. Etc" from 2005. I bumped into proprietor Anthony Froggatt in the press office and laughed at his claim that his crisps were 100% British, saying surely most crisps were. But oil makes up 30% of the content, he quickly responded, and my crisps are made with rapeseed oil, which is from the UK, unlike other crisps that use imported sunflower oil. Later, visiting his stand I tasted the product which ...

I first came across people who called crisps, crips in Dublin when I was working in a pub some 30 years ago. Seeing it as a brand name at a show last week prompted me to ask one question, why didn't someone think of this before. However, Crips are not crisps but cleverly baked snacks launched three years ago by Karl Traae and his buddy using a patented recipe. They are building distribution by attending trade shows and persuading small multiples, the big grocers and independent food stores to stock the brand. Newsagents and convenience stores are, however, less likely to try the product than shops that specialise in food, says Mr Traae. Why is this? Perhaps because they are not used to explaining the make up of products that they sell. "It someone walks into your shop and they have never seen Crips before and see that they are 70p and ask you what this product is about, are you going to be able to explain how it is made and why it is better for you?" he asks. Which is a g...

At an rsp of £3.49, this SFC product is doing well, rival suppliers say. Currently only in the freezer, there are reports of a microwave version for 2011. Southern fried fish is also available. My friend Deepak Tana says the product caught his eye but he does not do frozen in his six stores. I approached the company representative for a story but he did not want to leave the comfort of his chair. He has listings in all the major grocers. Well, perhaps the product sells itself. One to try.

Management Today recently provided some advice to entrepreneurs who hoped to get their products into supermarkets; advice which could be useful to local retailers too! Graham Cassie, who sources local and regional foods for Waitrose, advises suppliers to think about why their product should replace someone else's. "Ask yourself what your product is bringing to the range for the customer," he says. If there is a similar product, "why does your product do a better job?" For local shopkeepers, this is a useful exercise when thinking about stocking new products. Is a new product a novelty - something that will have a short life until shoppers get bored. Or an innovation - something that will change how shoppers think about your business and build new revenue streams. Small suppliers, if persistent, can be successful in supermarkets because they need new products to keep shoppers interested. Your store needs new products too and you need to evaluate what is right for...