Marigold Foods Inc

Dairy Foods, Oct, 1999 by Donna Berry

"The ever-changing consumer, competitor and customer landscape requires a strong new products effort to achieve growth in the dairy industry," says Marigold Foods President and CEO Jim Green. "We are very pleased to be named Dairy Foods magazine's New Products Company of the Year. This recognition shows Marigold's strong commitment to innovation throughout the organization."

Innovation for Marigold Foods, Minneapolis, encompasses all aspects of introducing a product to the marketplace: consumer research, formulation, packaging and marketing support. The company spares nothing to get it right the first time.

Consumer studies, including focus groups and concept testing, are an essential part of Marigold's approach to product development. This is what helps make Marigold's products successful in its distribution areas, which cover its home state Minnesota, as well as the Dakotas, Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and the Gulf States area. Marigold gives its customers what they want.

Take for example its new Easy to Squeeze Sour Cream (Dairy Foods, August 1999). "When focus groups made it clear that sour cream in a squeeze bottle was a good idea," says Carol Seehafer, product mgr., cultured/beverages, "we jumped on the opportunity."

It took Marigold about nine months to develop the complete product, including installation of a state-of-the-art bottle filling line. The company even managed to copyright the entire package.

"A user-friendly package and a quality formulation have driven strong repeat consumer purchasing," adds Rachel Kyllo, v.p. marketing. "This product innovation has driven growth in the category as consumers find additional uses for sour cream due to its ease of application."

This is just one of Marigold's 1999 innovative product rollouts. By the time December arrives, the company, under the Kemps brand, will have also introduced innovative products in the fluid, ice cream, novelty and yogurt categories. Not a bad way to approach the millennium.

Connecting with the locals

As a subsidiary of Wessanen USA Inc., the 20th largest dairy in the United States (Dairy Foods, July 1999), Marigold Foods is not one to forget its roots.

In January, the company kicked off its Kemps "Land of 10,000 Flavors" program. With a heritage dating back to 1914 in Minnesota, "This creative program is a light-hearted way of offering our [Minnesota] consumers a unique, new ice cream eating experience," says Kyllo.

The program includes a new half-gallon flavor each month, which is sold exclusively in supermarkets and c-stores throughout Minnesota, and is supported through creative outdoor billboards and radio advertising. Each flavor is tied to themes that are uniquely "Minnesotan." Feature flavors have included Hockey Puck, which is tied to Minnesota's youth hockey program, Go Fish, which hit shelves on opening day of fishing season, and Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough--anyone who has ever gone to the Minnesota State Fair knows they can't leave the fair without one of Martha's cookies.

"The program is a huge success," says Kyllo. "The featured flavors are consistently the top-performing half-gallon SKUs in Minnesota."

Also in ice cream, the company formulated a Premium Light Ice Cream line. "We recognized the consumer trend away from fat-free to light products," Kyllo says. "We have had a light 'regular-priced' line for some time, but saw the need for a more indulgent yet healthful product."

The new line uses a premium mix formula and includes flavors like Peanut Butter Cups 'N Fudge, After Dinner Mint and Cherry Chocolate Chunk. The line comes in half-gallon rounds and uses high-end graphics and photography to reinforce its premium positioning within the ice cream category.

Marigold knows that ice cream selling season doesn't need to stop with back to school. As you read this, the company's new holiday line is hitting freezer cases.

This newly designed, comprehensive holiday program includes Holiday Candy Crunch Mini Cones and Candy Cane Mini Sandwiches. There are also decorative slices of Frosty Trees and Winter Snowmen. Half-gallon feature flavors are Holiday Mint Fudge and Candy Cane.

"Consumers are in an indulgent frame-of-mind during the holidays and we see these products as a great way to take advantage of impulse shopping," Kyllo says.

Decadence and convenience

Two other consumer trends that Marigold believes are important to address in its new product offerings are decadence and convenience.

The company brought true innovation to the yogurt category when it introduced the first refrigerated yogurt with chocolate truffles (Dairy Foods, March 1999). "The concept adds a bit of indulgence to a product line with an inherent 'health halo,' "says Mike Punton, national foodservice sales and marketing dir. "It expands yogurt consumption into a dessert-eating occasion. The four varieties are selling quite well at retail."

One of Marigold's strongest performers in the past decade is Yo-J, a unique combination of yogurt and juice that until now had been sold only in half-gallon gabletop cartons. Unlike many other manufacturers who have attempted to market similar drinkable yogurt products, "The product has a very loyal consumer base," according to Kyllo, "and packaging it in half-pint multi-packs was a logical way to extend usage to away-from-home consumption occasions.