Showcase Your Products on Danish Retail Shelves
If you aim to establish a strong foundation in the Danish market, it’s crucial to follow expert recommendations for placing your products in Danish food store chains.
Adhering to these guidelines can streamline the process, saving you valuable time and effort when preparing presentations that achieve results. While these insights can be applied to other countries, they are especially tailored for those with cultural backgrounds similar to Denmark. Your outstanding product has the potential to captivate Danish consumers and secure a prominent place on the shelves of local store chains, cafes, and specialty shops that may not yet carry your offerings.
Undoubtedly, you’ve invested significant time, perhaps even years, into perfecting your product and building your brand.
The crucial first step in gaining new customers is making your product accessible to your target audience. This involves dedicating time and effort to meticulous preparation, beginning with effectively presenting your products to store owners or purchasing managers.
Only then can you start gaining traction in sales.
Strategies for Successfully Showcasing Your Products on Danish Store Shelves
One thing is certain – the competition is fierce, with many local entrepreneurs and international exporters vying for a spot in Denmark’s physical and online stores.
Therefore, you need to prepare thoroughly to make it difficult for buyers to say “no” to you. Here are some options I’ve gathered from Danish retail and sales-related sources.
Identify Suitable Stores for Your Product
If your goal is intensive export, aiming to get your products on as many shelves as possible, there are four main groups of retailers in Denmark:
- Salling Group
- COOP
- LIDL
- REMA1000
Salling Group and COOP have multiple chains, while LIDL and REMA1000 operate independently, each focusing on one chain.
However, if you operate in a niche market, thorough research is necessary to find the stores, cafes, salons, or other outlets that align with your product. Consider your product’s target audience, features, and advantages, and determine if you can offer your product in the budget sector, organic sector, luxury sector, etc.
Before reaching out to potential retailers, conduct a comprehensive analysis of all potential resellers.
Understanding Danish Food Culture and Trends
To successfully market your products in Denmark, it’s essential to understand Danish food culture and current trends.
Danish cuisine is deeply rooted in tradition yet embraces modern influences. Highlighting the following elements can make your product more appealing to Danish consumers and retailers:
- Traditional Danish Foods: Emphasize traditional Danish dishes such as Danish rye bread, buttered rye bread, roast pork, caramelized potatoes, and parsley sauce.
- Danish Food Tradition: Showcase how your product aligns with or complements traditional Danish cooking practices and flavors.
- Nordic Cuisine Trend: Leverage the popularity of new Nordic cuisine and modern Danish kitchen trends to position your product as innovative and contemporary.
- Local Ingredients: If your product incorporates fresh meat or other locally sourced ingredients, emphasize this aspect to appeal to the Danish preference for high-quality, locally produced foods
Tailoring Your Presentation
When preparing your presentation for Danish retailers, focus on the following key points:
- Product Differentiation: Clearly articulate what sets your product apart from existing offerings.This could include unique ingredients, superior quality, traditional recipes, or innovative flavors.
- Target Audience: Define your target audience and explain how your product meets their needs and preferences.Use demographic and market data to support your claims.
- Cultural Relevance: Highlight how your product fits into Danish food culture, whether through traditional elements, modern twists, or alignment with popular trends like new Nordic cuisine.
Building Relationships with Retailers
Building strong relationships with store owners and purchasing managers is critical to securing shelf space for your product.
Consider the following strategies:
Networking: Attend industry events, food fairs, and trade shows in Denmark to connect with key players in the retail sector.
Sampling: Offer samples of your product to retailers and consumers to generate interest and feedback.
Marketing Support: Provide retailers with marketing materials, promotional support, and in-store displays to help boost product visibility and sales.
By understanding Danish food culture, tailoring your presentation to highlight your product’s unique features, and building strong relationships with retailers, you can successfully showcase your products on Danish store shelves.
This meticulous preparation will help you gain new customers and establish a strong presence in the Danish market.
Before your first meeting with a buyer:
Align Expectations with the Client
To avoid a failed and time-wasting meeting due to mismatched expectations, it’s crucial to align both parties’ goals from the outset.
Buyers and store owners are typically very busy and difficult to reach, so make the most of the opportunity to connect and clarify expectations as soon as you arrange the meeting. Agree on what each party aims to achieve, the topics to be discussed, who will participate, and the duration of the meeting.
Then, create a clear agenda that both parties agree on before the meeting.
Tailor Your Presentation to the Client
It’s common for product providers to spend too much time on product details during presentations.
While it’s important to bring knowledge about your new product, this shouldn’t be your starting point. Instead, begin by considering the client’s perspective. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how you can improve their day. What are the client and their company evaluated on?
Focus your presentation on addressing their needs and concerns.
Build your client presentation around these four key areas:
a) Relevance of Your Product to the Client Consider the following:
- Why should your client add your product to their range?What benefits will they gain?
- How does your product align with your client’s strategy and plans?
- What are the current market trends, and how does your product fit into them?
- How does your product appeal to consumers shopping at your client’s store?
- What value does your product bring to all consumers in the store or retail chain?
- How does your product enhance your client’s existing range and boost their business?
- Can your product increase sales or profits for the entire category?If so, how?
Support your arguments with statistics, databases, and consumer analyses wherever possible.
b) What You Offer
Once you’ve demonstrated why your product is the best solution for the client, highlight its standout features.
- Provide all essential information: technical data, delivery capacity, etc.
- Passionately describe the advantages of your product, the problems it solves, its cost, and why it’s worth it.
- Emphasize how your product benefits the client compared to current offerings. How does it differ from others? How can it elevate the store’s profile?
c) Product Launch Plan Detail your product launch strategy.
- Focus on creating awareness, demand, and store traffic to increase client profits:
- When is the ideal launch time?Consider fitting it into the client’s calendar year and intake window.
- How will your product be marketed?How will the client’s customers see your marketing efforts?
- Outline your marketing and action plan.
- Describe how you can help attract customers to the store.
- Explain what a successful in-store execution looks like.
- Decide where your product should be placed in the store and why.
- Discuss how you want to activate the product in-store.
- Outline possible and expected visibility materials.Can they be approved by the store or chain?
- Explore potential cooperative activities.
d) Setting Ambition Levels Agree on the launch goals:
- What are the sales forecasts for a specific period?
- What are your joint sales and profit targets and under what conditions?
Practice Your Presentation The outcome of the meeting can be financially significant for both parties.
Therefore, thoroughly practice your presentation beforehand. Find a partner or someone who knows the client well to challenge you. Store owners are skilled salespeople, so prepare your pitch and anticipate possible questions and arguments to respond smoothly and effectively.
During your meeting with the store owner or buyer:
Master Your Body Language
Whether or not your product gets added to the shelves depends on its alignment with the store’s strategies and its potential profitability.
However, interpersonal chemistry and personal relationships also play a significant role in business decisions. Be mindful of your body language during both physical and online meetings. Maintain eye contact, smile, show enthusiasm, listen attentively, and be fully present. Remember, first impressions are formed within the first 7 seconds of meeting someone.
The saying “Dress for success” holds true. When exporting to Denmark (or any foreign country), it’s beneficial to understand and emulate the local dress culture to create a familiar and positive impression.
Deliver a Presentation that Fosters Long-term Collaboration
While your passion for your product is important, your presentation should go beyond its features.
Ensure your enthusiasm is evident, but also focus on listening to the client and addressing their questions. Emphasize how your product’s advantages solve the client’s problems.
Engage in a dialogue centered around the client’s needs, highlighting solutions that align with their goals.
Strive for a collaborative approach that benefits both parties in the short and long term. A well-rehearsed, customer-centric presentation will allow you to listen more effectively during the meeting.
Instead of focusing on what you want to say, concentrate on understanding what your client needs to hear.
Make Your Product Tangible for the Client
Whenever possible, bring physical samples of your products to the presentation.
Tangible products make a stronger impact than photographs. Consider leaving the sample with the client, along with a physical or digital copy of your presentation. This ensures the buyer has all the essential information in one impressive “package.”
Expert Advice: How to Get Your Products on Føtex’s Shelves
This summary is based on an article previously published on FødevareWatch and includes insights from Søren Svenstrup Sørensen, the concept manager at Føtex Food, who ultimately decides if your products make it onto their shelves.
Føtex is a well-known Danish retail chain that leans toward luxury, though it is not exclusively high-end. It is a prime target for businesses looking to enter the Danish market due to its growing number of stores and popularity among locals for everyday shopping. Føtex Food increasingly opts for products from small businesses, with a particular emphasis on expanding their organic product selection.
The expectations for product quality are high, as the chain is dedicated to offering premium food and drink products.
The following is a summary of recommendations from the Føtex purchasing manager on how to present your products effectively.
Product Taste Testing
The initial step involves tasting your product to determine its fit within the chain’s product range and to check for similar existing products.
The product must first appeal to the store and, more importantly, to its customers. After that, the expectations of Føtex’s suppliers are discussed. The product is also tasted by the relevant product category expert from the Salling Group, to which Føtex belongs.
Beyond taste, visual appeal and marketability are crucial. An original and compelling story behind the product is a significant advantage.
Consistent Supply
Next, Sørensen advises producers to ensure they can consistently supply the necessary quantities of their products.
Additionally, the packaging must be suitable for Føtex stores.
Pricing and Quantities
Pricing is another critical factor. The product must be competitively priced, and the quantity must make sense.
As Sørensen notes, “I ask you to base the price on the product size. Is it wise to bring a 350-gram jar of jelly to the market, or should it weigh 200 grams and be priced accordingly?
Or should it be a 600-gram product? But I can also help with that.”
Quality Control
Before offering your product to the Danish market, conduct a quality control check for shelf life and thoroughly research local requirements for selling food products.
The concept manager at Føtex will examine the manufacturer’s official approval of laboratory tests and shelf life. Additionally, consider the nutritional value, product declaration, and labeling – how does it present itself?
Prepare for a Significant Task
Undertaking Supplying your products to a chain like Føtex Foods is no small feat, but they understand the challenges – especially from the perspective of small producers – and strive to be as helpful as possible.
The concept manager details how cooperation with the Salling Group operates and highlights the critical aspects that require careful attention. They work diligently to ensure successful partnerships with suitable product suppliers, often offering opportunities for products that typically don’t reach large stores. However, many are surprised by the substantial amount of paperwork involved and the need to familiarize themselves with the Salling Group’s system.
“This is a significant task that is often underestimated.” Some small suppliers even hire agents to assist them because the process differs so greatly from their usual operations. “
And this effort is just to get one product in,” says Søren Svenstrup Sørensen, emphasizing that while it may seem complicated, it is something they can assist with. Therefore, it’s important to recognize that entering the portfolio is a major and time-consuming task, but it can open doors to being included in the product ranges of other retail chains as well.
For instance, the Salling Group encompasses three other major retail chains – read more about them here.
After Meeting with a Buyer or Store Owner:
Reflect on Your Presentation
Every meeting is a learning opportunity.
Evaluate what went well and identify areas for improvement. Ask the client for feedback to refine your approach for future meetings.
Share Success Stories
Once your product is launched, regularly assess its performance.
Gather market feedback and understand consumer sentiments about your product. Share specific examples of your marketing activities, sales progress, and profitability.
Use these stories in future client meetings and through appropriate channels.
Develop a Post-Launch Action Plan
Listening to market feedback after launching your product is crucial.
Plan your post-launch marketing
Strategy in advance to ensure long-term success.
Many new products fail because the focus was only on the initial launch. Sustained success requires ongoing efforts to drive repeat purchases. Create a strategy to maintain steady sales and ensure your product continues to sell well after the initial excitement.
This helps avoid the risk of your product being removed from the store due to poor sales performance.
Conclusion
Exporting your products, especially those related to traditional Danish food and cuisine, to Denmark or any other foreign country can be a rewarding venture. Here are the essential steps to help you succeed:
- Research and Understand the Market: Familiarize yourself with Danish food culture, including popular items like Danish rye bread, roast pork, and pickled herring. Knowing the preferences for traditional Danish dishes, such as buttered rye bread topped with cold meats or hard boiled eggs, and the modern trends in New Nordic cuisine, will help tailor your products to local tastes. Explore the influence of Danish food tours and street food culture to understand consumer behavior.
- Quality and Authenticity: Ensure your products maintain high quality and authenticity. Traditional Danish foods, such as dark rye bread, caramelized potatoes, and Danish pastries, should meet local expectations and standards. Highlight your use of fresh meat and authentic ingredients in items like pork roast, breaded pork patties, and fried pork belly. Incorporate classic Danish elements such as parsley sauce, boiled potatoes, and fried onions.
- Compliance and Regulations: Adhere to Denmark’s import regulations, food safety standards, and packaging requirements. This includes understanding the nuances of exporting perishable goods like smoked fish, roast duck, and crispy pork, as well as traditional items like Danish smørrebrød, red sausage, and pickled red cabbage. Stay informed about the requirements for food labeling and allergens, especially when dealing with traditional Danish cooking ingredients.
- Build Relationships with Local Retailers: Establish strong connections with Danish restaurants, food tours, and local hot dog vendors. Showcase products like your version of Danish meatballs, fried pork belly, or a modern twist on Danish pastry. Engage with Danish chefs and participate in food festivals to increase visibility. Partner with Danish restaurants to feature your products in popular dishes like roast beef with brown sauce, cold buttermilk soup, and apple cake topped with whipped cream.
- Marketing and Promotion: Highlight the heritage and traditional aspects of your products. Use terms such as “traditional Danish cooking” and “Danish food tradition” in your marketing materials to attract local consumers who value authenticity. Emphasize the uniqueness of your offerings, such as traditional Danish foods like pork tenderloin, hot meals featuring mashed potatoes, and warm cherry sauce. Leverage the popularity of Danish food tours and the New Nordic cuisine trend to create a unique and appealing brand story.
- Adapt to Local Preferences: Be open to modifying your products to better suit local tastes. This might include incorporating ingredients like pickled beets, chopped almonds in desserts, or creating variations of open-faced sandwiches. Explore the preferences for seasonal and holiday dishes, such as Christmas dinner featuring roast pork or chicken salad with cold meats.
While the specifics may vary depending on the type of store or retail chain, following these steps will put you in a strong position for success. Embrace the rich Danish food culture and the growing trend of New Nordic cuisine to create a unique and appealing offering for the Danish market. Highlight your commitment to traditional Danish foods while also innovating with modern touches inspired by Danish chefs and the vibrant food scene on Danish islands and beyond.
By understanding and integrating into the Danish food culture, your products can become a beloved part of Danish culinary traditions. Whether it’s through the nostalgic flavors of traditional dishes or the exciting innovations of the modern Danish kitchen, your success in exporting to Denmark will be built on a foundation of quality, authenticity, and cultural appreciation.