Spice up their lives
When the economy tanked in 2008, Americans began searching for ways to cut un¬necessary spending. One way was to dine out less frequently and eat at home more often.
These consumers took — and continue to take — much cooking inspiration from various cooking shows and culinary magazines, which turned experimenting in the kitchen into a major trend, says Nicolas Danis-Godard, international sales representative for Saint-Jérôme, Quebec-based Dion Herbs & Spices. It’s this reality that has driven consumers’ interest in spices and seasonings.
Data from Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based market research firm, certainly point to consumers’ growing love of spices and seasonings. During the 52 weeks ending May 18, all subcategories of overall and private label spices and seasonings saw both dollar and unit sales increases. See the table, p. 42.
The problem is, some retailers offer too small of a selection of spices and seasonings — or none at all — under their own brands. They are missing an opportunity, says Christine Cooney, director, U.S. retail division of Milly-la-Floret, France-based Daregal.
The ideal program
But the right number and variety of store brand spices and seasonings depends on the channel, says Laurence Bloom, president of Altius Spices and Seasonings, based in Baie D’urfe, Quebec. For example, a drugstore might carry only 12 SKUs of store brand spices and seasonings, far fewer than a traditional supermarket typically does.
Traditional supermarkets, on the other hand, should begin by introducing a full line in printed resealable bags, Bloom advises. Bags are less expensive than bottles, offering more value to the consumer.
Next, supermarkets should offer basic bottles of spices, but only the top 12 sellers, Bloom says.
“Your black pepper, your garlic powder — 80 percent of your business is your top 20 percent of SKUs,” he says. “Then, depending on the season, the cinnamons, the parsleys, the paprikas, etc.”
And last, supermarkets should offer three to five products in 32-ounce bottles for foodservice operators — often-used products such as garlic and black pepper.
But not all spices have to be dry and bottled or bagged. Cooney notes that frozen herbs, in particular, offer great opportunity for North American retailers to increase profits, as they take up little space in the store but boast wide margins. And the ones her company offers contain no preservatives, salt or GMOs.
After the spices have been developed, supermarkets could get creative and develop a line of seasonings — including unique offerings that match current flavor trends. Examples include piri piri (aka African bird’s eye chili) seasoning and exotic salts such as Cyprus flake salt and Himalayan pink salt, Bloom says.
According to Bill Harris, director of sales with Olde Thompson Spice Co., Himalayan pink salt is his company’s No. 1 or No. 2 seller. But just two years ago, the product didn’t even exist in the company’s catalog.
Other salts that are particularly popular right now, Harris says, include smoked salts, flavored salts, black salts and red salts.
Ethnic appeals
With both spices and seasonings, ethnic products, including Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Asian offerings, continue to be in demand, Harris says. He points to blends such as habanero and black pepper or habanero and lime as an area of opportunity.
Jeanne Meeder, director of industrial and consumer products R&D with Wixon, St. Francis, Wis., notes that her company manufactures a number of ethnic and regional varieties for private labeling, with some particularly popular ones being Sriracha, Kashmiri Masala, Organic Coconut Curry, Organic Moroccan, Organic Thai Peanut, Wasabi, Harissa and Romesco. Also popular are bundled spices and herbs for people preparing Asian, Latino, Indian and Peruvian cuisines.
And these products appeal even more to consumers when provenance is emphasized on packaging.
“Give a little blurb about where a product comes from,” Harris states.
Package to please
And give suggestions on how to use the product, says Megan Smith, spokesperson for Woodinville, Wash.- based SaltWorks. She also recommends using buzzwords such as “all-natural” on packaging — as well as cobranding.
“Cobranding is a big opportunity in this category of specialty and artisanal products,” Smith explains. “Consumers see the value of the store brand combined with the quality of the artisan brand/producer, and it is a huge selling point.”
Turning to packaging design, when it comes to color schemes, no one-size-fits-all solution exists, explains Jay Bunting, owner of Rogers, Minn.-based Wayabata Bay Spice Co.
“I’ve seen everything work,” he says. “My largest customer just introduced a very plain white-gray-black scheme, while I have other people who are into earth tones or getting into bright colors.”
As for functionality, disposable grinder jars remain very popular for pepper and salt.
“Disposable grinders are the fastest-growing subcategory within the spices and seasonings category,” Harris explains. “I call it ‘interactive cooking.’ [People] want to twist, grind, squirt, shake, get involved in the preparation of the dishes and feel like they’re actual participants.”
Get the merchandising message out
On the merchandising front, Harris adds that the traditional tactic of placing store brand products to the left or right of their national brand counterparts doesn’t work so well in the spices and seasonings section. If packaging is bold, then it’s best to place all items under the brand in a block fashion.
Meeder disagrees with that approach, however, noting that if retailers position store brand spices and seasonings alongside their national brand equivalents, they then can hang shelf tags to point out price gaps.
Also “place the products near the foods they would be used with,” she says. “For example: Place marinades and rubs in the meat section, salad dressing blends near produce.”
And don’t forget about cooking demonstrations. Cooney notes that her company has introduced products through food demonstrations in super¬markets throughout the Northeast to gain consumer awareness.