Do you promote award-winning products in your store?

A: We highlight products that receive NASFT Product Awards throughout the store. I cut out information from magazines and collect literature at the Fancy Food Show regarding the Awards Competition. I make simple shelf-talkers with the materials and keep copies of Awards literature in plastic sleeves by the register. Allen & Cowley won for Outstanding Product Line this year, and we carry a lot of their products. I plan to highlight their Starr Ridge line throughout the aisles.
Joyce Ortner, The Wild Raspberry, Cromwell, CT

A: We promote the Product Award Winners and Finalists all year with signage posted throughout the store and with a special sampling station. Sometimes we use materials provided by the manufacturers; sometimes we make our own signs. We work with an outside agency that sends email announcements to our extensive customer list promoting the award-winning products we carry and inviting customers into the store to taste them.
Carol Frieser, The Grapevine, Fort Lauderdale, FL

A: Every year I promote the Product Award Winners with samplings and in-store signage. Sometimes I get point-of-sale materials from the manufacturers to display, or I cut out photos from Specialty Food Magazine, which I then enlarge and laminate. We set up individual sampling stations throughout the store which are closely attended and constantly refreshed by employees who educate customers about the products and the Awards Competition itself. I think it’s important to let the customers know that the products were reviewed by a panel of industry experts, not just one judge. That enhances the Awards’ credibility and gets shoppers more interested. A customer might be wary of a product that seems unfamiliar, but if she hears that the specialty food industry as a whole agrees it’s worthy of an award she’s more likely to try it. I also find that putting the manufacturers’ recipe cards out near the products encourages sales.
Ettienne Leibman, Leibman’s Wine & Fine Food, Houston

A: This year we took Product Awards promotions to a new level: I was invited to appear on the local CBS affiliate for a broadcast segment highlighting seven of 2005’s winning products. In the seven-and-a-half-minute segment I introduced the audience to new products that we would be carrying and encouraged them to stop by. The response was immediate and enthusiastic. For the show I made a batch of Espresso Nut Cream Cookies featuring All Things Sicilian’s Pistachio Nut Cream. I brought the leftovers back to the store for my customers to sample and set them out with a “Coming Soon sign to build interest.

Throughout the store I display signs featuring the Winner’s statue to indicate which products received Awards. I also download recipe cards from the manufacturers’ websites and put them out for customers to take. When I run an ad in the newspaper, I use it to promote the award-winning products I carry.
KC Lapiana, In the Kitchen, Wexford, PA

Jennifer Maslow is associate editor of Specialty Food Magazine.

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