Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer magazine. A long-time Harris Teeter executive, Mr. Harris is a former chairman of the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association and a member of the Refrigerated Foods Hall of Fame.
Everyone loves to complain about the failure rate of new items, but all too often retailers are responsible for that failure.
One of the most preventable causes of new item failure — having a rigid category review schedule — is very easy to fix. Some won't even consider a new item until the next review, often three or four months later.
When Kraft came out with a new cheese years ago, our stores wouldn't take it on because it was between-times on the category review schedule. Of course Kraft was promoting with TV and coupons, and we were getting consumer complaints like crazy.
Once I had the authority, the first thing I did was get it on the shelf. For basic items like margarine, dough and eggs that rarely see new launches, a delay is your worst enemy.
That also applies to speed-to-shelf. Once you've adopted an item, get it in the warehouse, in the stores and out the door. Too many retailers wait for a reset team to come in and get the product on the shelf. No way.
Every Friday, I used to send a note out to all the stores, explaining what the new items were and telling them not to let them sit in the cooler, but to get them up on the shelf.
Every time new numbers come out from Nielsen or IRI, you should be checking to see what items are selling well in the marketplace. If you don't have them, get on the phone with your broker and manufacturer and say you want them. I don't think that's going on much anymore, but it should.
You should also be making sure that new item tags get up on the shelves, since they draw attention and help your sales. The tags help reinforce the ad messages that consumers have seen. I always left them up for six weeks.
The manufacturer has to do its part, too. Some companies work hard to make new items work with promotions, demos and TPRs. Some smaller manufacturers don't have the resources, or don't bother. But it's your responsibility to stay on top of things!