Direct To Consumer Masterclass at Bread and Jam
Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to chair a session at the Bread and Jam Food Founders event at the Institute of Directors in Mayfair.
The session was all about successful DTC (Direct to Consumer) food brands, and we had some brilliant founders on the panel. We had
· JP from Allplants, (frozen Vegan meals)
· Stephen Rapoport form Pact, (Coffee)
· Harriot Hastings from The Buscuiteers (Gourmet Biscuits)
It was a fantastic session which was trying to tease out the fundamentals which helped those businesses become the DTC standard-bearers they are today.
The three big themes which came out of the session were as follows.
1) Selling online is not about getting better margins. The truth is after doing all the handling, customer service, covering postal costs, etc., it is often no better or worse than selling to a traditional retailer. The real advantage is having a direct connection with the end customer. This direct relationship helps you to more rapidly hone the product and service and also gives a mountain of data which can be used to work out what the customer values the most.
2) Being able to sell direct is easier than ever before, software like Shopify makes things super easy and affordable, and there are more and more logistics companies who are set up to help. That said depending on what you are trying to offer, then inhouse development and operations may still be the right answer. You need to know what the customer needs to be able to answer this question.
3) Once you are ready to sell, then it is not normally the correct strategy to spend all your marketing bucks on google ads and social media promotions. Building a community and maybe a bit of PR along the way is far more effective.
This advice is all gold standard from founders who know what they are talking about.
A bit more on Bread and Jam
This year saw the 4th Bread and Jam festival, which purpose is to help fledgeling Food and Drink businesses learn from the experts who have been there before them and also introduce them to suppliers who are up for helping them. It’s a fantastic event and highly recommended. Don’t fret if you missed it, this year, as Bread and Jam also run workshops and Boot Camps throughout the year. Jason is also the man behind the very useful Foodhub Facebook group also set up for new Food Entrepreneurs.