Our experienced team at Green Purse PR goes beyond the conventional to physically visit a diverse array of retail outlets, including grocery stores, club stores, butcheries and other specialty retailers, to conduct a thorough shelf audit. We meticulously analyze meat products (beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork, etc) on the shelves, capturing essential details such as pricing, placement, promotions, product claims, certifications, and merchandising strategies.
It was so nice to be back in Australia during July! Being previously based in Sydney, many of Green Purse’s clients are in Australia and it's a place I absolutely love! It’s been years since I was last in Australia due to the pandemic days, so this recent visit felt even more special. This trip was for my client, Land to Market, to support their expansion into the Australian market.
Below are some photos showing a visual recap of my recent trip. Some highlights include farm visits — meeting Aussie graziers and farmers that are working to improve environmental health through regenerative agriculture. We also met with companies looking to source materials (like meat, leather, wool, etc) and Land to Market verified regenerative products from the Land to Market member base. In addition to work, I managed to make time for spotting some pretty views and lots of delicious food & drink.
The Australian market continues to be a major focus for myself and Green Purse PR. We work with many of Australia’s leaders in agriculture, red meat, wine and honey. Australia has a lot to offer the world in terms of natural and organic products. I'm keen to help Australian companies be successful in the American market by helping them better understand the market and their consumers. Learn more about our experience with other leading Australian companies (like Meat & Livestock Australia) and research capabilities here and contact me if you're keen to learn more.
- Lisa Mabe, CEO of Green Purse PR
Watch this video Green Purse produced, featuring our shop-along research.
As part of our new #GetInHerCart Expert Q&A blog series, we are talking to some of our favorite industry experts around the world who share our curiosity for how consumers shop for natural products and what makes brands succeed in reaching them.
We recently had a chat to Dalene Wray, Managing Director of OBE Organic in Australia with offices in Brisbane and supplying grocery retailers around the world with their certified organic, grass fed and halal beef. If you work in Australia’s red meat industry, organic food industry or have ever been to Birdsville, you likely know or have heard of Dalene.
Not only does Dalene run Australia’s oldest producer of certified organic beef, she’s also a thought leader in all things beef, organic food, and sustainable agriculture. I’ve known Dalene since 2013 (when I had first moved to Sydney) and was one of my first clients in Australia and the first of my long string of meat industry clients. I was drawn to OBE given their forward-thinking around meeting the growing need of the halal food market around the world, a category I’ve heavily focused on here at Green Purse PR for nearly a decade now.
Having worked very closely with the OBE Organic team, I’ve seen first hand how Dalene works to build and grow OBE Organic’s business, but also contributes to making the entire Aussie beef and organic food industries of Australia better. If you follow Dalene on LinkedIn or Twitter, you’ll see her frequently sharing her knowledge at industry events around the globe and leading various working groups to support export growth, identifying ways to help beef producers flourish and championing diversity within agriculture, including reconciliation for Australian Aboriginal and Indigenous communities.
Continue reading below for our recent Q&A interview with Dalene, and thanks for reading our blog, #GetInHerCart.
— Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder & CEO, Green Purse PR
Dalene Wray, Managing Director of OBE Organic
Q. Given our work together, I know OBE Organic is unique in that is has built success in a variety of markets – from domestically there in Australia, to internationally in places like the USA, Canada, United Arab Emirates and Japan. When it comes to the American market, what do you consider your best asset as a brand?
A. “We’re successful in America because we’re consistent. We can provide certified organic, grass fed beef 52 weeks per year, 365 days; you can’t get that in the USA.” Dalene sees OBE’s offering as a compliment to American sourced beef products. She and her sales team focus on understanding the challenges or problems their target customers (grocery retailers) have and try to provide the best solution. Dalene suggests exporters focus less on how great their product is, and focus more on understanding their customer’s needs.
A lot of the American retailers are very large and therefore would require huge quantities. Dalene recommends “researching the retail landscape and recognizing what ability you have to deliver.” Dalene recommends exporters ask themselves, “do you produce small volumes just a few times per year or have a consistent supply? Determine which retailers are the best fit for your size, and ultimately identify, does your product or program solve a problem that the retailer needs to fix?”
Q. Doing business from afar could be challenging. Is it necessary to have an American outpost in order to effectively serve your customers? How do you and the OBE Organic team maintain your client relationships from the other side of the world?
A. Dalene says no; having a US-based office is not necessary, at least in OBE’s case. For OBE, America is an established market; they have a greater need for staff in their more emerging markets across the world.
While they do not have staff located in America, they do frequently come visit with their customers in-market, and have consultants (like Green Purse PR) here to work with as needs arise. Dalene stressed the value of working with partners and vendors who are based in the USA and know the market best. She recommends “having a suite of consultants at your disposal in the American market.” Dalene also says that the smartphone app, WhatsApp, (in addition to phone calls and emails) is a helpful way to stay in touch with customers on a regular basis.
Q. What types of partnerships, vendors or service providers might an exporter need to find in order to be most effective in the USA?
A. Dalene says having a logistics provider to clear your product through customs (U.S. Customs and Border Protection,) as well as an organization to help you manage currency risk (currency hedging) are some must-haves. OBE prefers to sell direct to customers (the retailer, instead of through a distributor,) and Dalene warns, of bringing over too much product to satisfy customers. “I don’t like to have storage; storing product somewhere means more insurance and cash flow challenges. Instead of renting storage space, I would rather airfreight product if I had to.” Instead, she recommends exporters start small with their orders, working to build volumes and relationships over time.
Q. Are there any specific niches within meat sold at grocery retail where brands can further innovate and shine?
A. “Deliver for the meat buyer. That means on time deliveries, open and transparent communication about any glitches in the supply chain. It also means letting them be the first to know of any problems in the supply chain. Get your customer the right product at the right time, working to know their business so well that you can almost predict and preempt issues.” Dalene says this comes by working super closely with the buyer — understanding their own KPIs, volume, and any ad or promotional programs their category participates in. Dalene warns that “buyers are always being courted by competitors,” but recommends being “so reliable that there is no reason why they would replace you.” In addition to providing outstanding organic, grass fed beef year round, OBE Organic has found that its focus on sustainability and animal welfare often give them an upper hand when pitching their organic beef program to prospects.
Q. When you’re pitching a new grocery retail customer, which product attributes or third party certifications are they telling you are most important for their shoppers?
A. They are looking for grass fed, and USDA organic. Dalene also notes that retailers are asking about regenerative agriculture and animal welfare.
Q. How important is it to understand the end user, the shopper, when pitching a new grocery retail account? How does OBE Organic get to know, or study, those shoppers?
A. Dalene says, “we need to know how to engage with the consumers on campaigns. Every country is different and every retailer is different.” OBE Organic relies on Green Purse PR for market and consumer insights globally, studying how consumers, like Millennial moms in the USA and UAE, shop for beef. Dalene says shop-along studies help the brand to understand things like the best type of content (like imagery and messaging) to communicate to their various consumer audiences. Insights learned through qualitative research also helps the brand keep a constant pulse on consumer behavior so it can best support its’ retail customers from a marketing perspective.
OBE Organic beef at Jimbo’s Naturally in California
Q. What kind of reputation do you believe Australia has here in the USA, amongst both retailers and end users?
A. Dalene believes Australian products enjoy a good reputation in the USA. Regardless if someone in America has been to Australia or not, they likely have a positive view of the country.
Q. Do you consider America a good market to do business in?
A. “Yes. America has a stable currency — a currency you can trust. It’s a sophisticated market with lots of retailers to choose from, sophisticated logistics and well-educated consumers. Australia also has very good tariff arrangements with the USA, which make it a very attractive market to do business in.”
Q. Without giving away your secret recipe of success in the USA, what are some of the things about OBE Organic that help position it for success in America?
A. “We’re authentic, farmer-owned, conduct our business with integrity, we’re very transparent, which our customers appreciate. We’re experienced in long lead times from the other side of the world, we can deliver 52 weeks of the year (most producers cannot) and we visit our key export markets frequently.”
Q. Given that I’m always studying the products that get into women’s trolleys (shopping carts) around the world, can you share some of the products that typically end up in your trolley?
A. “My family and I try to keep a ‘clean food’ diet — organic foods with clean ingredients and not processed. My shopping trolley often includes, organic eggs, organic beef, free range chooks (chicken,) non homogenized milk, organic flour, organic carrots. No sodas or fruit drinks; I’m the type of shopper who reads the ingredients labels.”
For those in the USA, look for OBE Organic beef in retailers like Fairway Market, Bristol Farms and Jimbo’s Naturally. And for more industry thought leadership from Dalene, follow her on Twitter at @dalwray and connect with her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/dalwray.
When a woman becomes pregnant, everyday items, from food to supplements, medicines and cosmetics, suddenly are subject to increased scrutiny. When preparing to enter this new life phase, women tend to go on a massive hunt-and-gather style quest for information. That search often manifests itself in Googling a wide variety of topics, including fertility, healthy pregnancy and lactation.
Read our CEO, Lisa Mabe’s, thoughts on how brands can reach women heading into motherhood.
Access Lisa's new thought leadership article by downloading Natural Products INSIDER’s special edition on Maternal Nutrition here. Look for her article, Women Googling Their Way Into Motherhood, on pages 33-35.
Source: Natural Products Insider
In our shopper research, many consumers report that they first learned about a product through an influencer. There is certainly a lot of discussion around influencers, but what does “working with influencers” mean, what do influencer programs look like, and what outcomes can a brand realistically expect to get?
Read Lisa's new thought leadership article on the Natural Products Insider here: https://bit.ly/2RejvEt.
Source: Informa’s Natural Products Insider
MOM's Organic Market is an independent, family owned, natural foods retailer with currently 19 stores in the Washington, DC area, as well as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The newly opened store I visited is located at 10 Upper Rock Cir, Rockville, Maryland 20850. The address is technically, Rockville, but it's right on the cusp of Gaithersburg.
If you've not been to a MOM's store before, you're in for a visual treat if you scroll through my photos below. I've shopped at other MOM's locations in DC for many years and love it. With an emphasis on organic products, along with their mission to protect and restore the environment, MOM's curates exceptional products and delights shoppers with unique offerings they might not find anywhere else. This is a store you can truly feel good about shopping with.
This new Gaithersburg store has lots of wide open spaces, given that it's in the suburbs. It's the nicest MOM's store I've seen yet! One thing I immediately noticed was the focus on bees throughout the store. I love all things honey, bees, bees wax, and of course saving the bees, plus I've been doing a lot of shopper research on the honey category recently. See for yourself in my photos here.
As I've been doing a lot of shopper research in the honey category lately, of course I checked out the honey aisle.
This store has a wide selection of honey.
Including 6 skus of Manuka honey from New Zealand
I'm noticing a theme throughout the store -- very bee-friendly. This plastic wrap alternative, Bee Wrap, made from bees wax, is nice.
More bee-friendly products
Portland Bee Balm
Burt's Bees (from my home state of North Carolina.)
Excited to see the Global Animal Partnership label here, on Bilinski's chicken sausage. That's the label I look for to buy higher welfare meats.
La Quercia also touting the GAP label.
An outstanding body care section! So many different brands and products from what I usually see in other retailers.
Tons of essential oils.
Spotted the Jack N' Jill brand from Australia; this is the kind my kids use.
I bought some of these sticks and the stick holder for my backyard. Seems to be working well!
Found some wool dryer balls, also from New Zealand. Love the branding; I bought these too - love to support the New Zealand companies.
I've not seen beekeeper supplies in a grocery store before; very cool.
A look inside my shopping basket.
I'm not kidding about the emphasis on bees. Super cute grocery bag!
Stayed tuned here on our blog, #GetInHerCart, for more grocery store visits from our travels around the world as we speak at various conferences and conduct shopper research in different markets.
If you're keen to learn more about the grocery retail landscape in America, consider working with us on a workshop. Our workshop, Making it in America: How to Enter & Succeed in the Diverse Food Retail Marketplace, is one of the sessions we teach most and is very popular amongst companies from outside the USA. Contact me, Lisa Mabe, for more details about our workshops and other retail related services we offer. We teach workshops, conduct research and plan or execute public relations programs for companies all over the world. I look forward to hearing from you. Contact us here.
- Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder, Green Purse PR
While in Greece recently on holidays, I took some time to squeeze in a bit of work. I've been to Greece several times before, (my husband is from Greece) but this was my first time doing a proper supermarket tour of Athens and conducting shopper research there.
Athens has some lovely supermarkets and one of my favorites is Thanopoulos, known for stocking a wide variety of products from all over the world and the place to 'see and be seen' apparently. For those not already familiar with Thanopoulos, it is a privately-held family business that has been around since 1877. Thanopoulos currently has three locations in Athens. I visited the Thanopoulos supermarket in the neighborhood of Kifissia (Κηφισιά,) an upscale residential and shopping district, and quite possibly my favorite place in Athens, other than the coast (Vouliagmeni is still my most favorite spot.) Have a look inside one of Athen's best supermarkets, Thanaopoulos, located at: N. Kifissia Ελαιών 38 14564 Athens, GR-A1.
Entrance to Thanopoulos N. Kifissia store
View from the large, roof top patio offering views of nearby mountains.
From the roof top patio. There is a cafe just inside.
View from the second level, looking down on the cash registers.
Organic fruit & vegetables
Fancy Greek olive oils, something Greece is certainly very well known for in the USA.
Minced/ground beef. Lamb and pork, however, seem to be the meats of choice in Greece.
The meat aisle
Organic poultry with the EU Organic Farming certification. Other than that label, nothing real signifiant in terms of claims & product attributes.
Notice some familiar American brands on the snack ailse.
Tons of fancy Greek honey.
Love this pretty honey packaging.
Natural laundry products
The Greeks take their sea salt very seriously. I buy some of these same brands at my local Greek specialty food shop in Washington, DC.
My first time seeing donkey milk.
Organic Greek chocolate
Dining space & cafe
A special perk for parents - a play space with an attendant to watch your children while you grocery shop. This mom loves seeing special accomodations for moms, parents and children.
One more shot from the roof top patio. It was so pretty, I came up here for coffee and a meeting.
If I lived in Athens, I would definitely shop here. It's a modern beautiful, store with lovely amenities and a huge variety of international products on offer. It's no wonder that Athenians are willing to drive out of their way (in some cases,) just to shop at one of the three Thanopoulos locations.
Stayed tuned here on our blog, #GetInHerCart, for more grocery store visits from our travels around the world as we speak at various conferences and conduct shopper research in different markets.
- Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder, Green Purse PR
We recently asked our forum of health-conscious, millennial aged women about some of their favorite natural products they buy on a regular basis. We are launching a new series of blog posts, Natural Products Millennial Women Buy, where we will explore some of the products that ‘get in her cart’ and into her life.
How well do you know your female millennial consumers? Unless you're shopping alongside your consumers, you may have no idea how they learn about products, who influences their purchases or how your products fit into their lives.
Read on to download our new #GetInHerCart Workbook all about health-conscious, female, millennial shoppers.
It was so nice to be back in Sydney during June to speak at conferences and meet with some of Green Purse PR's clients. Being previously based in Sydney, many of our clients are in Australia and it's a place I absolutely love.
Below are some photos showing a visual recap of my recent business trip. Highlights of the trip included speaking about marketing to millennial consumers at the Naturally Good Business Summit, and Naturally Good Expo / Fantastic Food + Drink Show. More on those trade shows + links to my presentations here.
While there, I toured some of the local grocery stores, and visited some of my old stomping ground. Have a look at some of the grocery stores we visited here:
The Australian market continues to be a major focus for myself and Green Purse PR. Australia has a lot to offer the world in terms of natural and organic products. I'm keen to help those companies be successful in markets like the USA, Middle East and Asia. Learn more about our expertise and capabilities here and contact me if you're keen to learn more.
- Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder, Green Purse PR
Watch this video I produced, featuring our shop-along research, for the Naturally Good Expo.
We are excited to announce that Green Purse PR Founder & CEO, Lisa Mabe, will be a speaker at the trade show and conference, SupplySide West September 26, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
CPG manufacturers, marketers and formulators rely on SupplySide West when searching for their next innovative ingredient. More than 15,000 people will attend SupplySide West -- companies in the global dietary supplement, functional food and beverage, personal care, and sports nutrition industries to drive their innovation, growth and profitability, with input from purchasing, R&D, product development, executive management, marketing, compliance, supply chain management, QA/QC and more.
Lisa's session, How Millennials Are Transforming Modern Marketing, will focus on how health-conscious Millennials think, behave, buy and share. The session takes place Tuesday, September 26 at 9 AM.
For more details on the panel presentation, click this link. Also listen to this new podcast from Natural Products Insider where Lisa previews some insights on millennial women that she will share at the workshop at SupplySide West.
Plan to join us if you are attending the trade show. If you are interested, but cannot attend the event in person, follow the dialogue online by using the hashtag, #SSWExpo. Follow Lisa on Twitter @LisaMabe and the conference at @supplyside both will be tweeting from the show.
Stay tuned on our speaker page for other upcoming speaking engagements.
I recently returned from a business trip to Sydney, Australia, where I used to be based. I was in town to speak at the Naturally Good Expo and Naturally Good Business Summit. While there I had a look at some of Sydney's grocery retail scene, including some of the stores I used to shop at when I lived in Sydney.
One of the stores I visited was Woolworths in Crows Nest. This 'Woolies' store just reopened in April 2016 after two years of major renovation. I shopped at this Woolies during my time in Sydney; last time I was here it was still being demolished. Now, $52 million later in redevelopment, it's a completely different store. Previously it was a very tired, soulless, one-level store -- the kind that's so unpleasant, you can hardly wait to get out of it. Now it's shiny, new and includes multiple-levels.
Below are some photos I took of Woolworths located at 10 Falcon St, Crows Nest NSW 2065, Australia.
Woolworths - Crows Nest, Sydney
Such a beautiful structure on the outside. Crows Nest is an adorable community, but it could use some updating. The new Woolworths helps modernise the community.
Main level includes lots of grab & go options.
Spotted several products featuring the Australian Certified Organic bud, Australia's most recognised organic certification amongst Australian consumers.
This Thomas Dux corner on the first floor made me sad. I'm glad Woolworths still managed to let the brand live on in some form, but I'm disappointed that the stand alone stores no longer exist. Thomas Dux Grocer closed about two years ago. There used to be an outstanding Thomas Dux right around the corner from here; it's now a different store, called About Life. Read my blog post, photo tour of About Life here.
Stayed tuned here on our blog, #GetInHerCart, for more information on grocery retail and from our travels around the world as we speak at various conferences and conduct shopper research in different markets.
We are excited to announce that Green Purse PR Founder & CEO, Lisa Mabe, will present the keynote address at the Naturally Good Business Summit in Sydney, Australia 2 June, 2017 at 9:00 AM.
The Naturally Good Business Summit is a growth strategy event that aims to push businesses to the next level. The one-day forum will fuel strategic thinking, business development and industry connections.
Lisa's keynote, Get in her trolley: Global insights for connecting with women shoppers, will cover:
Women are the fastest-growing economy in the world, influencing 90 per cent of purchasing decisions and driving the global cultural shift towards cleaner, greener, healthier products for themselves and their families. If companies with healthy products want to succeed in this evolving marketplace, they must win with women.
But how do you influence purchasing decisions and what makes women choose one product over another? Who are the key segments you should be connecting with to sell healthy products? Attend Lisa's keynote presentation to find out.
For more details on the Business Summit, click here.
Plan to join us if you can. Otherwise, follow the dialogue online by using the hashtag, #NaturallyGoodExpo. Follow Lisa on Twitter @LisaMabe as she will be live tweeting from the event.
In addition to the Business Summit, Lisa is also speaking a few days later at the Naturally Good Expo. There, Lisa will discuss marketing to health-conscious Millennial shoppers. More on that here.
Lisa is CEO of Green Purse PR, a boutique research and public relations consultancy based Washington, DC. Lisa is an award-winning public relations expert with recognized expertise in social communications and marketing to women. Lisa has over 12 years experience working with leading companies around the world, including Australian companies like OBE Organic and Changing Habits. Lisa was previously based in Sydney, and is often in the region servicing clients throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Want to connect with Lisa ahead of the Summit? Contact her via this form.
