A co-branded marketing campaign using the Taste Pure Nature brand lifted the sales of Anzco Foods New Zealand grass-fed beef by threefold across Beijing’s high-end 7Fresh supermarket stores during a weeklong promotion.
Taste Pure Nature (TPN) marketing in the United States and China has gone from strength to strength in the past year and plans are in place to build on the programme in 2022, Beef + Lamb New Zealand global manager – red meat story Michael Wan says.
However, despite the positive outlook he says the challenge for the industry is to continue to service demand through the supply chain.
“It’s a worldwide problem that’s probably going to be around for a while. However, NZ companies are very smart, very savvy and innovative in their approach, so we’ll find a way, if they’re not already finding a way to service that demand,” Wan said.
“We’ll just have to be a bit smarter about how we work around those challenges.”
During 2021, the TPN programme generated more than 100 million paid media impressions in the US, over 324,000 website visits, 980m public relations campaigns and more than 210,000 social media engagements.
In the US it continues to be focused on California, primarily because of the high concentration of its target consumer group, the ‘conscious foodie’.
He says much of the time and investment in the US is on digital marketing and advertising, partnering with other brands to leverage each other’s equity and awareness to generate greater reach.
In China, the programme generated more than 40m paid media impressions during 2021, over 157,000 social media engagements and more than 21,000 in person engagements.
Wan said TPN’s China strategy is different to the US.
“Our strategy in China is to spend more time in partnership with our NZ exporters and their in-market customers and retailers, designing campaigns around locations where NZ grass-fed beef and lamb is,” he said.
“We’re not totally focused on jurisdictions or geography, we will go and develop campaigns in a much more targeted fashion, where that product is visible and available in retail supermarkets.”
He is predicting greater success this year, including through a partnership with Silver Fern Farms to launch its Toitū Certified Net Carbon Zero Angus Beef range in selected US retailers, and delivering targeted media campaigns in China similar to a co-branded TPN/Anzco Foods collaboration last year through Anzco’s in-market partner Beijing Zhouchen, which lifted sales of Anzco’s grass-fed beef threefold across 24 of Beijing’s high-end 7Fresh supermarkets during a week-long promotion, with an ongoing increase in sales post campaign.
There are also new campaigns planned for the US, one of which is a partnership with Meredith Digital, one of the leading publishing houses in the US that includes top-tier outlets such as Martha Stewart, Eating Well and Food & Wine.
He said the impact of covid on foodservice has benefited TPN.
“The Beef + Lamb strategy with TPN has been almost a singular focus through the retail channel, direct to consumer, we haven’t really invested a lot of effort in foodservice,” he said.
“So as covid hit, I guess that played into our hands quite nicely.”
He says NZ red meat exporters have pivoted towards more investment in retail strategies and building those out.
“It’s made a lot of sense that we work collaboratively together,” he said.
Covid has also affected the way consumers in those markets think about food.
“It’s actually been a positive thing for red meat protein, particularly grass-fed,” he said.
“Our target consumers have sought out foods that are better quality, that are fresher, that are likely to improve their health and wellness and immunity and things like that.
“Red meat protein, particularly grass-fed from NZ, goes really nicely in helping them achieve those kinds of goals.
“Demand has been pretty incredible, the challenge has been getting that product onto shelves and in front of consumers so they are able to buy it.”
