Eat Natural

Our work with Eat Natural brought success in Belgium and encouraged the development of new product lines.

The issue

Eat Natural is a small company manufacturing fruit and nut bars. It had great success with launching these bars in The Netherlands and wanted to expand into Belgium, whose premium "better for you" snacks market was undeveloped. However, as a small company it lacked the resources required for a fully-fledged sales and marketing operation.

What we did

Our research confirmed there were opportunities for growth in this market in Belgium, and identified Delhaize as the most suitable retailer. We arranged a meeting with Delhaize, who immediately listed four snack bar flavours. After supporting the product launch, we helped Eat Natural develop and implement a marketing and sales plan, and took on the day-to-day management of the product and brand.

Within two months the bars had exceeded their targets. We supported their growth through measures to generate trial purchases, and encourage repeat purchases. On the back of this and a number of other promotional initiatives, we secured distribution to the Delhaize-owned supermarkets AD Delhaize, Di and Shop 'n' Go.

Within six months, distribution levels were 100% better than expected, and the promotional plan was so successful that sales continued on a growth pattern of about 35% annually in like-for-like sales.

Stores now see the products as mainstream snacking products. Two more new flavours - coated, at Delhaize's suggestion, with Belgian chocolate - have been launched with great success; and improved distribution has meant that sales-per-store performance matches that of some of Eat Natural's key markets in the UK, including Tesco and Sainsbury's.