Food marketing strategies

Marketing is the key to the success of any business. Marketing, in an agricultural context, has traditionally referred to activities that take place from the farm gate to the final consumer. While farmer markets are one way that this can occur, more highly processed foods, such as a breakfast cereals or frozen dinners go through a more sophisticated system.

Business firms think of marketing differently. To them, it relates to activities that influence sales of their products. Marketing strategies used by firms in the food industry use this concept of marketing.

Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. Food manufactures may label products with their brands, or with distributor brands (private label), or sell unbranded products (ingredients and generic). This decision is greatly influenced by the channels of trade that will be used and by product characteristics.

There are two basic views of food marketing:
*the production-focus and
*the consumer-focus.

The production-focused view is an institutional one that is primarily concerned with the producers and the institutions that work with the producers. It is embracing the traditional agricultural view of food. Consumer focused view is primarily concerned with understanding what exactly the consumer wants and then providing it to them in a form, in a way, and at a price that is desired by consumers and is profitable for those institutions in the chain.

Many studies showed that the food product will be marketed profitably by using the right tools and channels to approach and raise awareness of the business among the target customers. On the other hand, understanding the customers’ demands, preferences, and expectations as well as knowing its competitors and the market trends are also critical factors for food marketing. Finally, using the right marketing strategies will help the business build strong customer relationships and deliver remarkable values to the target customers.
Food marketing strategies