The Essential Guide to Foodservice Marketing

The Challenges of Foodservice Marketing

There is a perception that foodservice is too complex, too fragmented and quite simply too much hassle. When it comes to the multiples you can fit all the decision makers to cover the market comfortably into one room; with foodservice it is quite a different story.

As highlighted by the market map above, the out of home market offers a wide range of sector opportunities, each with their own specific challenges. Defining focus and prioritising sectors for any food and drink brand is the first step on the path to successful food and drink marketing in foodservice. A common mistake is for brands to be pulled by the opportunities presented by the market, rather than setting out with a clear plan of action based on product fit to market and the size of the sector opportunity.

Where retail benefits from the copious amount of data available, this is far from the case out of home and estimating market value in the world of foodservice is a challenge in itself. Often a whole marketing budget could be spent trying to accurately estimate the market, so brands find themselves in the difficult and often uncomfortable position of having to go with their instinct based on limited data and insight. This is often a hard sell at board level and without a clear P&L and data to back up investment, many foodservice launches fall at the first hurdle.

When you do have the company’s backing there’s the crucial point of understanding your end user, and here knowledge of and insight into your customer is key. Who are you targeting? Are they a buyer, chef, F&B Manager, owner, purchasing director, development chef – the list goes on. Understanding the decision-making process and influencers within each organisation is hugely important. Are they an independent site, a disciplined multiple with buying power at head office level, an undisciplined multiple with a listing at head office but freedom of choice day to day? What challenges does their sector hold? If they are in the hotel market they might be looking for ways to keep guests on site to eat; if they are a school caterer they’ll be looking for the holy grail of cost effective, healthy meals that kids will choose to eat; if they are a casual dining group consistency is everything; while B&I contract caterers are looking for on-trend flavours and street food inspired products to help them fend off competition from the high street.

The route to market for foodservice is also often perceived as a barrier and an added layer of complexity. In order to reach independent operators, you need to gain listings with wholesalers who service your target sector. There are the big national multi-temp players like Bidfood and Brakes along with the large Cash and Carry chains like Booker Makro (who also offer delivered). But under this top tier there is a whole raft of regional or specialist wholesalers and buying groups, so if the big boys won’t play there is still a way to reach the market by gaining listings with these operators to secure national coverage. Here you need to understand how you can offer the wholesaler value and help them grow the category and drive margin. Indeed, margin is an important factor to consider when looking to grow your brand out of home, as the wholesaler will add a mark-up as will the operator, therefore you need to ensure your sell-in price is realistic to allow for both stages of mark-up not to mention listing fees and wholesaler marketing support.

Of course, the product format and fit for foodservice is also critical. Foodservice operators and wholesalers want products designed to meet their needs and the needs of their customers. The right pack and case format, the right packaging, the right prep or cooking technique, the right serve and the right price point on plate will all be crucial to your marketing. Simply taking a retail product and throwing it into the foodservice market rarely works. Remember when it comes to foodservice the operator is staking their reputation on your product, so it is essential it delivers.