How to sell products to major retailers
How to get big retailers selling your products - Advice from Strong Roots
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morning guys thank you so much for
tuning in also thank you to our sponsor
sage thank you so much
today's show got a little bit of a
beauty ahead of us don't we you've got
someone back we do we do turn time back
forth I was a fourth for time back mmm
is it for maybe a third time okay so
it's a third time on the show reason
being is because it's such a good story
and also we love the brand and we love
the company but before that we all sorry
we also have Sammy as well okay hope you
enjoyed yesterday's show hoped you'd say
it'd be just as good yeah
anyway for any startup site there are
any companies that are looking to get in
with any of the big chains hopefully
we're gonna talk today about what the
journey looks like and also what the
journey actually is mmm could be
completely different things sami thanks
I'll watch for coming in again yeah time
for some vine two times in studio you're
mixing up the time that we were supposed
to go yes oh yeah pointing at your your
logo here because you didn't sign last
time we actually weren't signing this
last time um just delighted that I
didn't spell it wrong I'm amazing who
didn't actually go for here yeah it's
great
I'll get you a massive sticker for that
yeah yeah cuz we're gonna fill that up
with stickers as well right
as we said on the intro we're gonna talk
about your brand obviously pretty strong
roots and we're gonna talk about Tesco
in particular
sure right because of the there's such a
big company here and if you obviously we
see it all on Dragon's Den and other
companies like that or TV shows if I
should say that if you get in with them
you're doing well mm-hmm right but some
people have an ID and they have what is
what the journey might look like well
you're gonna tell us what the journey
actually is like yeah I mean first
things first the last time I was here we
weren't on sale in Tesco so it's your
own very coy about it so it must have
been yeah in on the cards last I mean I
think we had a discussion about it off
air and yeah we did those things and and
that's I suppose that the story that I
should tell about the feathers even when
you get to go ahead and even when people
are interested internally in relatively
high positions in Tesco until that bag
is on the Shelf you are not in radio
okay yeah
it comes it comes right down to making
no presumptions about what your position
is in the market because both for
yourself in terms of organizing your
business around something like that as
well as dam organizing their business
around trends and new markets and new
customers and all that kind of stuff
there are so many things that have to
collide to make that work yeah
much much more than me I can't take any
any you know of the of the praise for
doing another a big team that were
involved so take us to the beginning
right so did they reach out to you to do
you reach out to them while waited to
work from the very start you already
have a relationship with Tesco Arlen's
which is a separate rating company part
of the group obviously were completely
separately working in a different
currency different suppliers and and
different demographic of people in
Ireland obviously so we we got into
Tesco in late 2016 and to I think was
about a hundred stores and Ireland it
had been performing pretty well and for
the previous six months I had been
trying to find the right person in in
Tesco UK would they help you I would
Arland put you in contact with UK
eventually that there was an
introduction made on the basis of the
products were going well the products
are not going well I don't think yeah
would have happened so we thought we'd
join all the right things to the Irish
market to justify someone you know
speaking of for us basically good in the
middle of all of this
Tesco had a massive you know staffing
change internally you know that they've
had some big big struggles with their
business and they've completely turned
it around
they've restructured how they operate as
a business internally and we've been
part of that change both in business so
you know things change from when you
start conversations to any initiative as
well as the fact that the business in
the environment has changed we've got a
different type of consumer now who's
looking for a you know mass available
plant-based vegan offerings that are
good for you and
you know affordable and that didn't
exist two years ago in the same way that
it does now so we're still kind of
riding this wave of the interest in the
subject as well as growing our business
at the same time if you look at the
likes of Amazon which are actually we
have another massive and then Tesco or
I'll see you jazz well dealing with with
the two is is the chalk and cheese as a
completely - obviously with the house
girls more important than Amazon for you
giving giving do well not necessarily
because you know since we've spoken last
Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in
the US yeah they both make up I think
you know the top ten retailers in the
world yeah so we're now dealing with two
companies are at the top in the top ten
reach others in the world which is
number one and I think Tesco's may be
number five or six possibly higher and
so they're both as important for the
long run because what we're trying to do
is create a global branch
yeah happen to be starting in Ireland
and now in the UK and and we've we've
spread our wings a little bit further
but for for us regardless of the size of
what they are now yeah
the retail landscape is changing and
Tesco has both a new channel of
distribution in terms of online and
traditional which is in store and now
amazon has the same so there has to be
something to be said for yeah big retail
chains needing physical outfits as well
as online as a major shift in the health
of online so back back to the UK Jen
right when when someone put you in
contact or when you make contact with
the UK what happened there to be fair it
came from growing the size of our team
so what we realized really quickly in
Ireland was the UK was a different type
of market and we needed you know a crack
team of individuals that were going to
literally break us into the UK so I
brought on our sales director lady
called Emma Curtis from another startup
brand called bear she had formerly been
in in London East with a specific goal
of trying to break into some of the
bigger retailers in particular Tesco
yeah Tesco are you know have been chosen
by us and and thankfully on the other
side that the feeling was mutual
yeah where we see them as as a key
launch partner in the market both for
what we're doing and the customers that
they have because they've got very
different demographics of people as well
as mass and unavailability so first of
all was hiring the right people to do it
because my expertise in particular was
with the Irish market not gonna pretend
that you know in a short space of time
that I can learn everything about the
market so first we had to invest in the
people and was a hugely different
massively massively massively way
conversations are different scale is
different presentation is completely
different in terms of in store in store
but also like you know functional things
how they run their business how they
operate how you know how you get paid
how you deliver things it's all
completely the opposite so we had to buy
in that talent so since we've talked
glass yeah I've got a global supply
chain manager with experienced retail
for this purpose Sales Director for this
purpose a senior national account
manager who looks after a specifically
Tesco business and then a field sales
manager on the road that knows the Tesco
I suppose store yeah parts so actually
we have to completely reinvest in kind
of another startup again and we made our
internal investment also to be able to
get that up and running so it's been a
completely different launch strategy for
us in every single way if you get in the
door with the likes of Tesco right is
that just do they do things like we'll
test it here right and then we'll roll
that I was around order stores because
as you said you've got someone on the
road who's going around selling this
well and he's calling it two different
Tesco branches or sushi right so um are
they starting from scratch again walking
in the door or is it just someone going
yeah look some strong roots to papadam
we sell them in this store so yeah
entertain them not at all it's all
completely Cole's like you know someone
like Tesco will communicate directly to
stores one the new range changes are
it's important to understand that and
in thin frozen in particular there's
only two times a year that they change
what they have on the shelves unless
it's for a very very specific purpose
because they have to plan you have to
plan or sand you know Tesco is something
like three and a half thousand stories
they can't just switch on and off the
top yet expect you know no repercussions
in the middle and they're hugely
supportive of the supply base so you
know the information that you get around
forecasting and promotion and marketing
potential and all those kind of things
it used to be in the past where
retailers where you know something you
could hope for and then stay in for as
long as you were in the good books it's
now complete partnership because there's
so much risk attached to launching a new
brand yeah luckily so far so good for us
it's early days it's only like a month
in but things are going really well the
customers are liking the product the
feedbacks been really good and it's
moving off the shelves but when you get
it on the Shelf yeah that's when it
starts I mean it's really really really
hard work to put it on the Shelf once
it's on there's like 50 brands that are
trying to take your place yeah in
physical stores if you want to get on
you have to knock something else off and
then when you want to stay you've got to
make sure that you're doing something
better if there are your or your face
and keeper place yeah sorry gone yeah no
let's just go say someone's it's hard to
keep it actually yeah first place yeah
it that's when that's when the hard work
starts it's you know it's no different
to a sports team everyone is trying to
improve all the time make sure that
they're on the squad
yeah and it's no difference in in retail
is it the same though in stores so say
if you start off in let's say a store in
the corner right on you're in a
particular part of the shelf
does that mean that you're in that in
every store or is it going to be a
different part in different stores
there's different classes of stores okay
so it depends on I suppose what range
you carry right you know if you take
Tesco Express for example yeah they're
gonna have a smaller frozen range than a
Tesco extra in yeah oops so at the
moment we're in Tesco Extra and Tesco
Metro which are their two bigger yeah
format stores yes
the smaller one take exactly the Express
a convenience ones and and we're really
really hopeful about doing more business
in particular in central London the next
12 months but yeah it really just
depends on what size the story is
because how many you know spaces do they
yeah in the freezer so if you are in say
an express to an you're in a particular
section in an express you're in the same
section troit them all all of the
expresses for the most part but then
there's different sizes of expresses as
well yeah so many stores like
essentially there's a whole science
behind this it's called you know it's
based off something called the planogram
and a planogram is essentially a map of
facings in a door or a shelf or whatever
it might be and the planogram is planned
down to the finest detail about you know
how many facings you have and how much
space you have in store you know the
bigger the cellar the more space it has
and I think I said this to you guys
before I see the retail business in
particular FMCG as more of a property
business because if you're not on the
chef you can't sell the product operator
yeah so you know that the big brands
like universe and the pngs
they're creating more and more products
to compete with themselves so that they
can have that property yeah and if you
have the property you can sell because
you're more than one choice of course so
it's about earning your place to stay on
and then playing that property game kind
of yeah here's an interesting all right
so this is something we were thinking
about when wouldn't we when the task of
enhancement commit so obviously does
there's a lot of people watching this
who wrote in startups and they wanted a
lot of them one who can hit with big
businesses can onions big contracts big
money all that sorta stuff sure there's
an issue with larger organizations
throwing their weight around I suppose
and making the smaller companies kind of
bend over backwards in a way they
usually wouldn't because they have the
power yeah what are the conversations
like with the likes of Tesco is if this
is our way this is how we do things this
is the price will pay I think it
probably used to be like that in the
past but I really do think that day is
gone it can't be about that anymore
because everyone's under so much
regulation about you know assurance and
guarantees with suppliers because no one
wants to do any one out of
civic business at the same time you know
you have to be realistic about what's
working and what's not and I think one
of the some of the biggest problems is
that people sometimes in the ground
schema things don't see it from both
sides there has to be an expectation and
a KPI of you know what is success for
both sides yeah and you have to be very
very clear about what that is because
while it might be big business for you
going into Tesco and setting one pack a
week in every story yeah it's not that's
not gonna keep the place and they have
to justify you know they're running a
business the same as you are
and it's not often that I advocate you
know the struggles of big business but
I've been in you change
retail but I didn't really go for 12
years yeah yeah and one of the best
things that and best pieces of advice
that I could give is the fact that you
have to understand what they want and
and craft a presentation around the
portfolio products range around what's
gonna work from them because they have
in flexibilities and one of the biggest
things that I've learned through this
whole process is that you have to
consider everything and not just presume
that you know it tastes great it looks
great everyone will want this what do
you mean you don't want everyone oh you
have to you have to consider everything
it has to be a holistic approach so what
we'll finish up on this one bit of
advice right to other brands and
products out there doesn't even have to
be food just getting in with the like so
we'll just take Tesco for an example
getting in with the likes of them one
bit of advice could you give order then
what you say there just tailor I make
sure you know what they want to hear but
as well not just as you said gonna this
is great it's Bridget I was gonna watch
us but one bit of advice would you give
I would say you know one of the one of
the most important things that I always
I always try and get across as the fact
that you know there are other avenues in
food that don't result in being with one
of the major retailers because what a
lot of food companies set out to do is
they look at you know big brands like
Coca Cola are innocent or you know
Ella's kitchen are one of these kind of
newer success stories and they don't
realise that in a lot of cases you know
some
people like ourselves set out to be big
business
want to be a big brand we want to bring
good food to everyone like continuously
right now yeah but it's okay to not be a
big food business because you know some
of the most talented chefs and best
products ever made our micro industry
yeah and I think there's a certain
expectation nowadays that you have to be
big and food if you're in food it's
almost becoming the new tech everyone's
looking for like of course a union wine
that's gonna be flipped for X amount
billion or whatever but that's not what
food is food should be sustainable and
if it's your food business it should be
for you and I should have you behind
it's all I would say is not just have an
expectation about what to expect in a
big food business but understand what
you want
yeah because having a big food business
and a brand is very very different from
you know being a foodie mmm in fact I
really really just like the word foodie
because it's it sort of been taken to a
place where it has nearly no meaning now
where you're just having like a can of
soup at like thirty year so you know
understand what what you want from it
yeah it doesn't have to be the Tesco
like I'd I'd quite comfortably have
relationships with some of our smaller
independent customers you who are you
know some of the most interesting and
knowledgeable people about food they
might have one store they might have you
know a small convenience store but they
might be one of the highest selling
stores for us for strong roots because
they understand it yeah yeah of course
not not to neglect them so so what's
next for you guys because you are
growing hugely ya know we're gonna to
get you back on the show on about six
months time tonight well you know we're
you know we're just around the corner
from you yes we're just a bit to move in
- welcome to the area thank you very
much
ec2 eh now I'm really excited because
we've we've been working in co-working
space the office group for the last I
should probably not say that because of
your affiliations okay we've been
working with a co-working space for the
last
year here yeah and we've got to a level
now where we're gonna add on around and
we're growing up and we're getting our
own space that we can build as a brand
experience space yeah so hopefully we're
gonna be doing some cool stuff like
opening a pop-up to launch air so you
know having a place where people can
come and understand what we're about as
a brand yeah we've massively pivoted in
what our structure is for our brand
attributes yeah previously you know we
were keeping our horizons open as to
what we could do yeah and now we're very
very firmly sticking a mass on the
ground about plant based environmental
responsibility and we'll be kind of
releasing what that means for us in the
next few months as a brand and then you
know putting together a promise document
that we want to try and achieve because
it's something that our consumers have
asked for yeah it's great it's nice that
you well if it's a Lee thing like the
Dobbin space
I don't we still have footage from that
but if it is up and free now feed about
the foliage a frowny late we moved to a
new place since you've been there we
have a new office in Dublin six months
ago
since you were in the operating I never
thought of her office was epic yeah it's
got a cooler space now it's really
awesome
well we'll be the judges of that now in
the corner I was wondering which one
you're talking about earlier on yeah
yeah not fast like so move to a new
place in Dublin and our new urine was
unsuitable for like six to eight people
okay we've got 15 people in Dublin and
five of us in London so I was just due
to scaling yeah we're really excited to
see what the space here is one look like
yeah you're gonna hang around as well
but we want to talk to you about
branding
no one gets there okay no and let's be
like my spaciousness we're going through
a rebranding
thanks so much third time's a charm like
it yeah coming in pleasure thank you so
much for watching
tomorrow is may be cold tomorrow it is
night stop dude like hopefully your car
does even slightly and yes if we promise
not to talk about behind the curtain and
we promise not to talk about
I won't table talk about branding
through wit sorbet Brian I gotta be
going about Brian guys thank you so much
watching make sure you tune in for
midweek um tomorrow have a great Tuesday
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