Sea of sameness interrupted here and there with unique ideas

By Robert Wheatley

The National Fancy Food Show in San Francisco started last Sunday with a bang as 17,000 retailers, distributors and brand minders came together at the Moscone Center to see and taste what’s new in specialty foods.

The convention is remarkable in its fantastic array of vendors from around the globe who showcase their products for US retail distribution. Especially cheese, cheese and more cheese that populated both exhibit halls. The air was heavy with the zesty pungent dairy-air of hard and soft varietals mostly from Europe and North America. It’s hard to imagine any of the Showgoers having to retreat for lunch given the wall-to-wall noshing – all of which was occurring at a break-neck pace as everyone attempts to canvas the acres of product categories and companies.

Even with all of the chocolaty goodness, it’s hard not to notice the pervasive sameness and slim distinctions between competing offerings. So we see in dramatic relief the problem plaguing so many businesses in the era of over-choice and saturation. It just all runs together. For any business unveiling its version of Chevre, infused olive oils or extreme Cocoa chocolate, your eyes glaze a bit as many overlap together in a noisy heap of feature/benefit style selling.

There were some standouts — interesting items you could tell were more like Purple Cows as Seth Godin would call them – ideas that exude their own natural charm and glow with built-in interest.

Speaking of cows, Slow Cow borrows a chapter from the Red Bull school of functional beverages and produces its polar opposite: a concoction that slows you down with a layer of relaxation.

The grist underneath this proposition gets interesting as you explore the nature of life’s mounting pressures, alongside a desire for better blood pressure and a reaction to the relentless push, push and more push that accompanies life in our dog-eat-dog business world.

A healthy respite sounds about right. So this new category gets interesting as you see the possibilities around it for punching through on an issue many may be pining for: some liquid relief.

Although all things bacon may be so very “last year,” the savory, smoky, salty punch of breakfast protein was back in an array of products from sandwich spread and seasonings to desserts.

Chicago high-end chocolatier Vosges hit a taste high note with their bacon-infused chocolates. A generous sample covers the tongue with caramel, chocolaty sweetness followed by a quick after-note of smoky savory-ness that offered a dramatic counterpoint to what you anticipate from a chocolate bar. Even more exciting was their new and unique line of spice inspired ice creams.

In a word — awesome.

Also interesting was Bay-area based Hint. Clean, straightforward packaging promotes a hint of natural fruit flavor at zero calories and no added sugars.

Honestly, I thought it would be no taste, too. But to my surprise the fruity flavor was there and discernable. A sweetness was also evident, but again without the added sugars found so often in these beverages.

Parents will love this option for their kids because it comes without the down side.

The winners and losers here in the longer run will be an outcome of how they invest in building their brands. Yet, for so many the pre-occupation is pushing the product into the pipeline without much effort given to considering how brands are built. Noticeably absent was any reference to consumer insight on preferences and interest in these offerings or the trends on which they’re based.

• Uniqueness and differentiation are vital to getting traction with consumers and markets that are already saturated with similar products making similar claims in similar categories.

Those who can punch their idea far enough to the right or left to create a new category they can own have a shot at a sustainable business that can increasingly accumulate value for its owners in the longer scheme.

Speaking
I had my shot at the event to help bring some of these brand-building ideas to life. Here’s my deck if you want to take a look: