Guest guest Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 In the past, we've approached PCC about carrying our line of living foods products and were courteously but firmly informed that they would not be able to accommodate our lack of bar coding on the labels. This is somewhat of a necessary evil in our business, as very few of the larger retailers will agree to handle any product without a bar code. The fee to acquire rights to a code are $750 initially, and that can be prohibitive to small, internally financed companies like ours, especially when you include the cost of label redesign and printing! Why put energy into larger retailers? Basically, we feel like we've grown our company as far as we can with our initial strategy of selling to smaller coops and privately owned health food stores. We're encouraged by the enthusiastic response that we've received so far. Unfortunately, the number of raw fooders in the northwest is still relatively small, and we're not making ends meet with the level of sales this approach has generated. One exception to this trend has been Whole Foods which has enthusiastically embraced our products despite our lack of bar codes on the labels. From doing tastings in one local store, I'm convinced that there are a large number of people to be found in such stores that would buy our hummus and crackers if they only knew about them! Hence, we've re-thought our marketing strategy and recently invested in bar code technology so that we may be better able to reach consumers who know that they are interested in better quality food, but don't necessarily indentify as raw fooders. After 1 1/2 years, I will call on PCC and Whole Foods in Bellevue this week. In the last year, we've added several new accounts solely because of customer requests for our products. We've seen first hand how one request can move a store buyer to call us and place an order! If you are interested in finding any of our products in your local store this is a good time to take a minute and fill out a customer request card. With much grattitude, Jim Brosseau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Jim, I would still be interested in samples of your products to take to our local co-op, when time and resources permit. Our town has a population of 50,000 but the co-op (Mountaincoop.com) does a brisk business because of the university (25000 students) and faculty who are health-aware. The manager has previously expressed an interest in bringing in raw foods on a trial basis. Let me know what I can do to help get your products into their store. Thank you. Nickolas Hein Morgantown WV - livinspoonful RawSeattle Wednesday, October 06, 2004 3:58 PM [RawSeattle] Living Foods in PCC In the past, we've approached PCC about carrying our line of living foods products and were courteously but firmly informed that they would not be able to accommodate our lack of bar coding on the labels. This is somewhat of a necessary evil in our business, as very few of the larger retailers will agree to handle any product without a bar code. The fee to acquire rights to a code are $750 initially, and that can be prohibitive to small, internally financed companies like ours, especially when you include the cost of label redesign and printing! Why put energy into larger retailers? Basically, we feel like we've grown our company as far as we can with our initial strategy of selling to smaller coops and privately owned health food stores. We're encouraged by the enthusiastic response that we've received so far. Unfortunately, the number of raw fooders in the northwest is still relatively small, and we're not making ends meet with the level of sales this approach has generated. One exception to this trend has been Whole Foods which has enthusiastically embraced our products despite our lack of bar codes on the labels. From doing tastings in one local store, I'm convinced that there are a large number of people to be found in such stores that would buy our hummus and crackers if they only knew about them! Hence, we've re-thought our marketing strategy and recently invested in bar code technology so that we may be better able to reach consumers who know that they are interested in better quality food, but don't necessarily indentify as raw fooders. After 1 1/2 years, I will call on PCC and Whole Foods in Bellevue this week. In the last year, we've added several new accounts solely because of customer requests for our products. We've seen first hand how one request can move a store buyer to call us and place an order! If you are interested in finding any of our products in your local store this is a good time to take a minute and fill out a customer request card. With much grattitude, Jim Brosseau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Hi Jim, I'd be happy to make a request for your hummus and crackers! At PCC? Also, I've often considered having a small business selling my packaged goodies, but the whole bar code issue has always gotten in the way. I didn't know you could still sell w/out one. I have some very tasty pesto I make and have yet to see pesto in a health food store that doesn't have cheese in it...oh, there was one, but it had vinegar in it and was horrible! I make mine with all raw ingredients. I've also been making some pretty fabulous raw desserts and candies. I'd love to talk to you one of these days. Thanks, Sheree livinspoonful <jim wrote: In the past, we've approached PCC about carrying our line of living foods products and were courteously but firmly informed that they would not be able to accommodate our lack of bar coding on the labels. This is somewhat of a necessary evil in our business, as very few of the larger retailers will agree to handle any product without a bar code. The fee to acquire rights to a code are $750 initially, and that can be prohibitive to small, internally financed companies like ours, especially when you include the cost of label redesign and printing! Why put energy into larger retailers? Basically, we feel like we've grown our company as far as we can with our initial strategy of selling to smaller coops and privately owned health food stores. We're encouraged by the enthusiastic response that we've received so far. Unfortunately, the number of raw fooders in the northwest is still relatively small, and we're not making ends meet with the level of sales this approach has generated. One exception to this trend has been Whole Foods which has enthusiastically embraced our products despite our lack of bar codes on the labels. From doing tastings in one local store, I'm convinced that there are a large number of people to be found in such stores that would buy our hummus and crackers if they only knew about them! Hence, we've re-thought our marketing strategy and recently invested in bar code technology so that we may be better able to reach consumers who know that they are interested in better quality food, but don't necessarily indentify as raw fooders. After 1 1/2 years, I will call on PCC and Whole Foods in Bellevue this week. In the last year, we've added several new accounts solely because of customer requests for our products. We've seen first hand how one request can move a store buyer to call us and place an order! If you are interested in finding any of our products in your local store this is a good time to take a minute and fill out a customer request card. With much grattitude, Jim Brosseau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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