[ad_1]
Lift the golden lid off a bowl of Halo Top ice cream and you'll be greeted with a cheerful message printed on the seal, such as "Save the Bowl", "Stop When You Hit the Bottom" or "Guilt Free Zone" .
The slogans sum up the promise that has earned the protein and calorie-rich ice cream a legion of fans since it's been created by Justin Woolverton on an experimental basis in his LA kitchen in 2011.
Halo Top offers the indulgence of a high quality ice cream, but with much less sugar and fat contained in traditional brands such as Ben & Jerry's or Häagen-Dazs. A 473 ml pot of Halo Top chocolate chip cookie dough will cost 360 calories, compared to 1,120 for the equivalent of Ben & Jerry.
Halo Top's simple proposal, combined with Woolverton's 39-year-old online marketing know-how, and his 33-year-old business partner, Douglas Bouton, appealed to consumers who count calories. In just six years, Halo Top has become the sixth largest ice cream brand in North America, with a market share of 3.7% in 2018, according to Euromonitor data. The private company does not disclose financial information, but its co-founders say that it has about 120 employees and that it is profitable and growing rapidly.
Woolverton and Bouton retained majority control after declining several takeover bids and raised $ 1.5 million from a combination of friends and family, angel investors and crowdfunding.
To consolidate its success in the United States, Halo Top has embarked on an international expansion launching last year in the UK and Canada such flavors as the peanut butter cup, the chip to mint and birthday cake.
The challenge ahead will be to encourage international consumers to develop the taste of Halo Top by adapting their sales pitch to countries with different cultures and dietary habits.
"Up here in the UK we have experienced the same rapid growth as in the United States. We sell better Häagen-Dazs in Tesco [the UK’s biggest supermarket chain], "Said Button with a hint of disbelief. "The first years, the construction of the company was difficult. We almost went bankrupt. But we have now reached a level of stability that allows us to really benefit, innovate and grow the business. "
The two Californians, who were unfamiliar with ice cream or the retail business in their infancy, surprised many industry leaders, who scoffed at the idea that a newcomer could enter a category long dominated by multinationals Unilever and Nestle.
advisable
Along the way, Halo Top has become the standard bearer of the new reality that is shaking up the consumer goods sector: the rise of competing brands in all areas, from razors to dog food. Presenting themselves as greener, more local, more authentic or healthier than traditional products, these newcomers often sell directly to consumers via online channels and use social media to attract attention.
Graeme Pitkethly, chief financial officer of Unilever, admits that the consumer goods giant "had missed the trend in the United States" for a healthier ice cream and that Halo Top was taking a "very, very fast" share. Unilever and Nestlé fought to catch up; both have introduced "healthier for you" ice creams to the United States. Launched in mid-2017, Unilever's Breyers Delight mimicked Halo Top by placing the number of calories in large numbers on the vat's label.
Mr. Bouton said the new rival brands were not totally undesirable, although their arrival slowed Halo Top's growth last year. US retail sales in 2018 fell 6.4% to $ 329 million, while units sold increased 4% to $ 77.5 million, according to IRi, a market research firm based in Chicago.
"This validates the healthier ice cream market, which we invented," says Bouton. "But there are now too many brands for space, so retailers are going to pick them and keep the best ones."
So how did Halo Top, from a creation in a family kitchen to the filling of supermarket freezers? It started with Woolverton, who in 2011 was working as a business lawyer in Los Angeles but was bored with his work. Pbadionate about fitness, anxious to optimize his diet, he experimented with fasting and often eliminated sugar to better control his hypoglycemia. However, he had a sweet tooth and was short of eating ice cream.
In search of alternatives, he began tinkering in his kitchen, first by freezing Chobani, a brand of yoghurt thick and rich in Greek-style protein, and adding substitutes for fruit and sugar.
Finally, his creations became more serious. "I did not necessarily have weight problems. The driving force for me was that it was low-sugar products, "Woolverton told the Financial Times last year. An idea came to him then. "If people like Chobani – and I love Chobani, and I love that ice cream I make – I think other people might like that ice cream I make."
Woolverton has found a sweet recipe with stevia, a sugar substitute made from a leafy shrub native to Paraguay, and erythritol, a sugar-free alcohol contained in fruits, which adds texture; both ingredients can be described as "natural" in marketing materials. The recipe also includes milk, cream and air.
However, scaling from batches made in his kitchen has not been easy. Woolverton was looking for "co-packers" – manufacturers who produce contracted food, often for large food companies or retailers.
The existence of such outsourced manufacturing capacity has been an important factor in the rise of competing brands in the consumer sector. Without this, few people could have turned their ideas into true large-scale products.
After almost a year, Woolverton figured out how to make bigger batches of its ice cream and signed an agreement with a California-based manufacturer. Using credit cards and loans, he hired a designer to create the packaging and logo, and convinced a local gourmet store to carry the product. He then invited Button, a friend also a lawyer, to join him in developing the business.
advisable
They first built the brand using targeted Google search ads and Facebook marketing; they avoided TV commercials, which they could not afford anyway. But the most important channel for building the brand was Instagram, the photo-sharing app. Halo Top gave free samples to thousands of "influencers" – athletes, gym coaches and healthy lifestyle gurus – with a critical mbad of followers that the company thought could love the product. "We have been constantly contacting people to try to promote Halo Top," says Bouton.
A viral report early in 2016 was a catalyst for the brand: a science journalist from GQ magazine ate only Halo Top for 10 days and lost more than 4 kg. Sales took off.
However, the success attracted imitators and the arrival of competing products in the United States led Halo Top to realize that it was necessary to expand abroad or risk losing the first advantage on the market that was crucial for its local success. "Because of their size, we knew that Unilever and Nestle would be able to deploy their ice cream much more quickly than we could," Button said.
In mid-2017, business partners began to determine how to put Halo Top on sale in as many countries as possible as soon as possible.
It was more difficult than expected. Since their ice cream was manufactured in the United States, it should be shipped abroad and kept frozen during transit.
Understanding local regulations and securing distribution was also a headache. "I had the impression of banging my head against the wall because we had to reinvent the wheel for every new market," Button said.
Then, during the summer of 2017, Button heard a stranger offer his help. Matt Fulbrook, a former sales manager for Ben & Jerry's in the UK, sent him an email asking if Halo Top had considered setting up shop in the UK. "We are a team of three ice cream merchants with over 50 years of collective experience in the ice cream industry in the UK. . . and know that there might be an opportunity here for you, "Fulbook wrote.
A few weeks later, the two had met and signed an agreement whereby Fulbrook, Brand of Brothers, would help Halo Top develop in Europe in return for a sales commission. This connection allowed Halo Top to quickly get distribution in the UK. Tesco was the first to register and in the fourth quarter of 2017, eight other customers, including Sainsbury's supermarkets. Morrisons and Asda had also agreed to stock the ice cream.
As far as branding is concerned, Halo Top knew she had to adapt her advertising and marketing to a British audience, otherwise she might not connect to consumers as she did in the United States. "The voice of our brand must be authentic and authentic – the antithesis of the big business or conglomerate," Button said.
Halo Top hired local staff and advertising agencies and produced an ice cream flavor called Lemon Wedding Cake: a tribute to the choice of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for their wedding cake last year. Halo Top's efforts seem to be paying off: in its first year on the market, the company reported sales of £ 20.2 million in the UK, according to IRi.
The group has found a subcontractor in Germany, which will soon begin to manufacture ice cream sold in continental Europe, replacing the stock currently shipped across the Atlantic. Halo Top has also started selling in the Netherlands and Germany.
"We are in 12 countries right now," Button said. "If we wanted to, we could double that number quickly, but we want to go slower to make sure we get it right."
Source link
