Penfolds goes ‘phygital’: Wine giant turns to high-tech sensory upgrades to boost retail purchases
Wine giant Penfolds has turned to high-tech sensory upgrades in its Singapore in-store displays as it strives to drive sales in the absence of wine sampling opportunities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Penfolds, one of the largest wine companies in the world, research has shown that 40% of two in five shoppers planning to make wine purchases ultimately leave stores without a bottle, and a study done on wine shoppers in FairPrice and Cold Storage Singapore also showed that although a shopper may spend an average of four minutes browsing wine shelves, some 32% of shoppers found information on the wines and the flavour profiles lacking.
This led the firm to believe that consumers were experiencing a distinct lack or gap in their wine-shopping experience, thus working to innovate what it calls ‘phygital’ in-store displays to improve this shopping experience.
“In introducing this brand new phygital mode of retail marketing and display, we hope to revitalise shoppers’ experience by directly addressing their concerns and needs,” Penfolds International (South East Asia, Japan, Korea, Europe, Middle East & Africa) General Manager Yodissen Mootoosamy said.
Calling to the heart: How Nestle and Yeo’s ‘emotional’ digital strategies secured success
Branding experts spearheading successful Nestle and Yeo’s marketing campaigns amidst the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance for food and beverage brands to fulfil consumers’ emotional needs via digital strategies in order to ensure continued survival.
Consumers making food and beverage purchases usually make these purchase decisions based on products’ nutritional or functional characteristics, and brands can fulfil these needs by making better products – but in today’s COVID-19-endemic world, brands will need to do more to survive long-term, and this includes appealing and satisfying consumers’ emotional needs to capture their attention as well.
“As most people know, the main difference in terms of brand and product marketing today versus pre-COVID-19 has been the rise of [digital platforms] such as social commerce and the strengthening of e-commerce, [so much so] that there has been a almost-mandatory move for all food and beverage brands towards digital,” branding and integration agency Mashwire Co-Founder Jeff Ng told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Way to go for ‘Waygu’: World-first plant-based wagyu brand details SEA expansion drive
The world’s first plant-based alternative wagyu brand Waygu has detailed how it plans to expand across South East Asia, after close to a year of research to ensure compatibility with local taste buds.
Waygu was launched in 2020 to mixed reactions from the food industry in Japan, but the brand – operated by Canadian firm Top Tier Foods – has since succeeded in partnering with an international consortium of industry partners and securing US$7.6mn in funding to expand its plant-based wagyu product line.
Top Tier Foods President Blair Bullus said that the partnership and funding aim to expand the variety and availability of Waygu into both European and APAC markets.
“This project aims to build on the success of our widely acclaimed Waygu line by developing a suite of alternatives to wagyu beef, widely considered the world’s best tasting beef,” he said.
Promoting diversity: FANCL subsidiary begins confectionery business using germinated brown rice
A new subsidiary from FANCL Group in Japan has begun manufacturing confectionery and selling them under the Smile Sweets Factory brand.
FANCL Smile primarily produces cookies, which contain FANCL’s germinated brown rice in place of wheat and is gluten free.
Sprouted or germinated rice is rice that is unpolished and allowed to germinate to improve flavour, texture as well as increase its natural nutrients such as y-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Sprouting makes nutrients more bioavailable.
This ingredient is used in FANCL’s sprouted rice range including rice cake, rice porridge, and its food with function claim (FFC) recognised retort rice.
Mondelez, Nestle, Calbee and Ayam Brand on five top trends set to shape the APAC food industry in 2022
We are speak to experts from major brand names in the food and beverage industry to assess the five top trends that look set to shape the Asia Pacific F&B sector in 2022, including Calbee, Nestle, Mondelez, Ayam Brand and more.Top trends this year are expected to include post-COVID-19 developments, pricing and taste importance in the plant-based sector, the rise in sustainable palm oil sourcing and more.
