Thursday, December 1, 2011

Master Chocolate-Maker Tells the Story Behind Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Holiday Confections

Fresno, California-based master chocolate-maker Guy Debbas tells the story behind some of Fresh & Easy's private brand holiday chocolate items in the two-minute video above.

Turkey and Technology -- Grocers, new technologies and holiday promotions

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has combined the age-old tradition of storytelling with digital-video technology (YouTube in this case) to offer shoppers a two-minute look behind the company that's crafting some of its fresh&easy private brand holiday confections.

The video features master chocolate-maker Guy Debbas, who owns artisan chocolate-maker Go Pure Foods in Fresno, California, telling his story, and the story behind how he makes a variety of confectionery products for Fresh & Easy.

In the video, Debbas steps away from his chocolate factory in Fresno after offering a quick tour of the facility and takes a trip to one of Fresh & Easy's seven stores in the Fresno area, where he talks to some of the store's customers about the sweet treats he crafts for the 184-store fresh food and grocery chain, along with offering the shoppers a free taste or two on his dime.

Consumers are increasingly interested in where the food they eat comes from, regardless of the product's brand.

Is it locally-grown or produced? Is it imported from another county? If so, where? In the case of chocolates and coffee particularly, is it Fair Trade? Is it Organic? If not, are a lot of pesticides used in its production?

These are just a few of the numerous questions consumers are asking about the food products, including store brands, grocers are offering for sale.

When it comes to a food and grocery retailer's own-brand products, telling shoppers where the products and the ingredients used to make them come from and how they're produced can be even more important and significant since the names of the companies that produce grocers' private label brand products are generally treated as top-secret information, largely for competitive reasons by the retailers.

For example, Do you know the names of the numerous food companies who make your favorite Trader Joe's branded products? How about just the names of the producers of your two favorite TJ's branded items?

What about knowing the name of the company that produces Safeway Store's O' Organics organic olive oil and the scores of other products under the brand? Do you know? You most-probably don't. It's nearly top-secret. It's also not easy to find out from Safeway.

And, do you know the names of the food companies behind the many other fresh&easy private brand food and grocery products, other than those FResh & Easy Neighborhood Market has in the past highlighted in a similar storytelling way for marketing purposes?

Do you care if some are huge global food companies? Would it please you to know that many are entrepreneurial companies, like Fresno-based confection-maker Go Pure Foods?

Questions, questions.

Today consumers are demanding much more transparency from food retailers when it comes to their own brands. And smart retailers are using this to their advantage, telling the stories behind some of their private brand products, like Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is doing with its holiday confectionery items.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to retailers, used well of course.

Video technology like YouTube provides retailers with an inexpensive way to tell those stories and potentially reach a whole lot of customers and potential customers, as the two minute video featuring chocolate-maker Guy Debbas telling the story behind some of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's private brand holiday chocolates demonstrates.

Related Stories

November 29, 2011: Raley's Using High-Tech and High-Touch Tools to promote its Stores For the Holidays

November 18, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Combining Big Seasonal Foods Assortment With Promos and Discounts to Lure Holiday Shoppers

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