Infuse Issue 7 March 2019 | Page 16

Food manufacturing can be a challenging
obstacle. How did you do it?
Likewise marketing a new product and
finding stores to stock your brand requires
a lot of work. How did you go about
developing your marketing plan?
It’s definitely not easy, especially when
starting out – volumes are tiny and costs are
high. I did a lot of research into suppliers and
contract manufacturers. I also had the added
benefit of having worked for Luz Almond
(an almond milk manufacturer), so I wasn’t
completely blind going into it.
From my previous work, I’d had learned a
lot about the importance of marketing and
branding. With such a simple concept (single
vegetables), I knew we needed to get the
product branding right. I worked closely with
a graphic designer to develop a concept I
loved – something that was fun and cute, but
also clean and simple.
Many suppliers told me my volumes were
too small, didn’t bother getting back to
me or suggested I was setting myself up
for failure, however I persevered. Initially
I started getting frozen purees delivered
from a commercial kitchen where I would fill
moulds and blast-freeze, before popping out
and packing them. As you can imagine it was
extremely labour intensive.
In terms of a marketing plan, initially it is
just about building awareness so we used
minimal cost, high return investment
options such as Facebook ads and the use
of influencers, as well as targeted trade
shows. At the end of the day, social media
has really been a strong avenue of marketing
for us, with many of our customers finding
us through Instagram. The addition of Lisa
Wipfli, the wife of radio personality Michael
‘Wippa’ Wipfli, as a part owner of Nourishing
Bubs, has been incredibly beneficial in terms
of getting our product into the hands of
bloggers and influencers. Lisa is largely
responsible for the marketing side of the
business and is clearly nailing it for us!
Fortunately my incredible suppliers
approached me suggesting they contract
manufacture the product – they knew
we were only just starting out, believed
in the product and were happy to work
with us in producing small volumes.
Never underestimate the importance of
developing good relationships with suppliers
or manufacturers – it really does pay off
in spades if you get it right and I’m very
grateful for those I have developed.
© Dietitian Connection
Interestingly enough, I literally met Lisa
and Mike through babysitting, as I used this
as another revenue steam while getting
Nourishing Bubs up and running (yes, very
humble beginnings). And which again is
a lesson on the importance of building
relationships!
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Infuse | March 2019