Mike Rechlin forwarded the following from IMSI (The International Maple Syrup Institute). It goes through strategies for product sales given the constraints the Coronavirus has placed on our usual fair and festival sales outlets. We think our members will find that it has some some good ideas.
REVISED 1 April 1, 2020
Dear maple producers and vendors, the coronavirus presents some serious challenges to our maple producers and their communities. The impact of measures like social distancing and the loss of employment in many sectors is likely to have lasting effects on consumer attitudes and lifestyles and buying behavior long after the crisis is over. Currently, as I write today, food service sales have moved to retail, this combined with folks stocking up has caused record sales in almost all food categories. Online buying and home delivery services are also booming and will continue to grow. Unfortunately, some maple sales activity has been curtailed, for example local sales normally occurring at maple festivals. This crisis is very disruptive and alarming, however it may be an opportunity for proactive maple producers and vendors to improve their business processes and adapt to a quickly changing world.
For smaller local producers and vendors, this may be a chance to develop your on-line business strategy. For example, you may wish to optimize your website for search engines and make it easier for your customers to navigate and for you to process orders and payments. It’s a good time to review your on-line product mix and assortment and make sure you have the right products and the best-selling products are front and center. Make sure your pricing is optimized. As a manager in a global trade, I revised my pricing every quarter understanding that any price increase goes straight to the bottom line. A little pricing discipline will go a long way.
Review your messaging and the tone of your communication, especially given the current situation. Consider inbound marketing as well as your usual outbound activities. You probably do a lot of outbound marketing like trade shows and direct e-mails, and those are important. But if you are large enough, you should consider doing some inbound marketing to grow sales, build your brand and increase traffic to your website.
On the retail side, you could consider un-manned farm stands, they really work! Make an attractive and visibly traffic-stopping road-side stand and advertise it. You can advertise on the web and/or post a letter-sized sales ads at local hardware and other country stores that will guide people to your stand or on-line store. Perhaps you can use social media to advertise your stand and website and get your friends and family to share through their Facebook network or other media. Consider partnering with a successful local bloggerto get your call-to-action message out. I have experience using bloggers and I can tell you it can be very effective. Many bloggers are paid in-kind through the barter system; you have an excellent currency with maple syrup.
Many successful small businesses use a local food delivery service to distribute food products. If you choose your distributor carefully, a good one will expand your business beyond your own geographic limits and build your brand equity. Consider volume rebates if you are in a highly competitive retail environment; smart incentives will win you favor. You can also increase your local distribution by making the sales calls yourself. Go and talk to convenience, country markets and small chains regularly. Understand what they want and propose creative profit-making solutions to them. Your job is to help them make money, that’s how you will get their support and make money. Continue to prospect, even in difficult times.
Try things you haven’t done before. Propose profit generating solutions like small stand-up or counter-top displays. Maple syrup is relatively expensive compared to many other food items, it’s a great margin generator for your customers. Maple syrup is attractive for impulse purchase and gifts in non-food venues; sometimes I buy mine in a scrappy old hardware store to support the local producer. Hire a local person to set-up the displays – make it easy for retailers to say yes by alleviating their stocking and merchandising labor.
To improve your profitability per transaction, consider increasing your minimum order and avoiding breaking cases. Schedule deliveries only on certain days of the week and possibly even work with one or more other food producers to consolidate deliveries.
Finally, keep on thinking, prospecting, innovating, cutting costs and building your brand – don’t get bogged down by the current gloom, this is a unique and temporary situation, turn it into an opportunity to improve your business processes, adapt to changing consumer behavior, persevere and succeed.
Jean Lamontagne
IMSI Executive Director
Contact Information:
International Maple Syrup Institute, IMSI
Jean Lamontagne, Executive Director
55 Grafton Drive |Quispamsis N.B.|E2E 6B2
jeanlamontagneimsi@gmail.com | 506 653 7533