Examples of Niche Marketing   

Regional producers around the world have effectively created niche markets independently or with the assistance of organizations dedicated to the promotion of such markets. The following summaries describe several such organizations and a variety of successful niche marketers.

Regional Specialty Foods in Southwest England

With respect to regional specialty foods, Ilbery and Kneafsey suggest in "Producer constructions of quality in regional specialty food production: a case study from south west England" that four concepts, all of which are subjective and socially constructed, combine to create the idea of "quality." They contest that no aspect of quality is objective. In addition to quality certification from an external agent, a product can gain quality through specification, meaning that production takes place in a specific manner such as using "authentic" ingredients or traditional recipes or operating on a small scale. Attraction plays on the subliminal desires of the consumer, (including taste, design, and appearance), to convey quality, while association connects the product with a region, (i.e. Scottish salmon), or with a tradition or culture.

Source: Ilbery, B. and Kneafsey, M. "Producer constructions of quality in regional specialty food production: a case study from south west England." Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 16, no. 2 (2000): 217-230.

Food From Britain

Food From Britain is an export marketing organization with a "specialty food and drink" section dedicated to increasing specialty food sales within the UK. Six regional marketing organizations work alongside the FFB to assist members in assessing the potential for their markets internationally, raising the regional profile of the product’s area, training in marketing and other issues, developing marketing strategy, finding customers, creating directories, and performing other services. Members pay an annual fee.

Source: http://www.foodfrombritain.com/

Committee of the Regions, European Union

The European Union’s Committee of the Regions is dedicated to giving voice to local, regional authorities. It is especially concerned with the survival of small, regional producers competing in a global marketplace. In "Promoting and protecting local products—a trump card for the regions," the CR outlines the advantages of regional marketing and suggests several tactics for the marketing of regional products. Regional marketing, they posit, can help rural areas by "enabl[ing] a link to be forged between the product and a region's landscape and culture" and that, furthermore, "protecting [regional products] sometimes means that a culinary heritage, contributing to regional identity, can be preserved" and "encouraging a partnership approach to local products can, through synergies, have a highly positive impact on their promotion." Connecting product with a region’s culture, preserving a culture through maintaining regional markets, and forming partnerships between producers within a region could all have similar benefits for the Alaska salmon industry.

Regional quality guarantees are of particular interest to the CR:

The CR suggests that, once quality is achieved, "Regional quality and origin labels are a suitable, effective and proven instrument for meeting the growing needs of consumers for certification of regional origin and preservation of the identity of Community regions." They call upon the other institutions of the EU to support such endeavours and urge them to leave quality standards up to the regions themselves rather than imposing a homogeneous label for the entire EU.

Source: Committee of the Regions. "Promoting and protecting local products—a trump card for the regions." Brussels, Sept. 1996.

Kosher Foods

As Linda Habenstreit points out in "What’s to nosh? A growing niche market for kosher foods, that’s what," Kosher food is a growing niche market around the world. Its popularity is attributed to several factors, some of which could be of interest to salmon niche marketers. For one, kosher foods are perceived to be more healthy, wholesome, nutritious and of better quality than other foods. This belief persists despite the fact that kosher foods are not processed under stricter health or cleanliness guidelines than non-kosher foods in the U.S. Marketing is in part responsible for this erroneous but advantageous belief. Kosher foods also benefit from the growing popularity of ethnic foods around the world and from the rapid expansion in kosher food diversity. As consumers are becoming aware that Kosher foods come in a large variety of product types, including ready-to-eat packages, consumption is rising.

Source: Habenstreit, Linda. "What’s to nosh? A growing niche market for kosher foods, that’s what." AgExporter Vol. 10, no. 9 (1998): 4-9.

Australian Lentils

The Lentil Company is an Australian organization dedicated to supplying premium lentils to niche markets around the world "through a multi level marketing system with the ultimate objective of maximizing returns to [the] growers." Their tactics include: stringent quality standards, catering to consumer demand, value-adding, working closely with growers and buyers, and branding.

Source: Blair, Peter. "The niche marketing of Australian TLC lentils: a model for other pulse crops." Australian New Crops, issue 10 (1998).

Country Meadow Farms Lamb Cooperative

In Minnesota, sheep farmer Todd Marek found it difficult to make money as a small producer selling lambs to stockyards. To make his enterprise more profitable, he discovered a niche for local, fresh lamb meat and formed a cooperative to meet its demands. The resulting five-member Country Meadow Farms Cooperative raise lambs without hormones, antibiotics, or steroids, and stagger their lambing times to produce a consistent supply. Their marketing emphasizes the image of their lambs as natural and wholesome in order to appeal to health-conscious consumers. The co-op buys its members’ lambs for five cents above the market price. For an article about the cooperative.

Source: Green, Cindy. "Hooked on lamb: Country Meadow farms forms rapidly to take advantage of ‘natural’ markets." AG Innovation News, Vol. 10, no. 2 (2001).

Prairie Lamb Cooperative

Another Minnesota sheep cooperative formed in 1995 to survive decreasing numbers of lamb packers and processors and dropping lamb prices due to imports. The two key goals of the Prairie Lamb Cooperative are to create innovative lamb products that appeal to modern consumers, (including convenient products), and lamb market development to inform and entice new members.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension Service. "Collaborative Marketing Group Profiles: Prairie Lamb Cooperative." 1998.

Prairie Farmers Hog Cooperative

The Prairie Farmers Cooperative consists of Minnesota hog producers who joined together to finance the processing, packing, and delivery of their product. By processing their own hogs, the cooperative members ensure that their products are of high, consistent quality and that packing is always available. By relying on others to process, the hog producers were unable to control quality and ran the risk of being turned away from packers during market gluts.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension Service. "Collaborative Marketing Group Profiles: Prairie Farmers Cooperative." 1999.

Apple Crisp Cooperative

As the Minnesota apple industry shifted toward large, expanding orchards, small growers found that markets for small quantities of apples were limited. This forced them to compete with one another, drop their prices, and deal with surplus apples at the end of the season. Apple Crisp Cooperative formed to jointly process and market apples under a common brand name, thus guaranteeing a market for the surplus apples and increasing access to buyers interested in larger quantities of apples than they could provide individually. At its formation, participants were allowed to sell to their traditional markets while processing surplus apples under the cooperative’s brand. In late 1999, the cooperative began selling sliced apples as their first value-added product.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension Service. "Collaborative Marketing Group Profiles: Apple Crisp Cooperative." 1999.

Napa Valley Asociations

Napa Valley is known worldwide for its wines. Its renown is, in part, the result of long-time cooperation among growers and producers. The Napa Valley Vintner’s Association formed in 1943 to collaboratively face wartime industry problems and to increase the status of the region’s wines. The group’s statement of purpose is "To market and promote the Napa Valley; to protect the integrity of the Napa Valley Appellation by protecting its reputation as a premier winegrowing region; and to strengthen community relations among the NVVA, its members and the industry."

Source: http://www.napavintners.com/region/reghist.html

A more recent organization, the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association formed in 1975 to "clarify and improve relationships among growers, vintners, government agencies and the community." Their original goals were to "promote and maintain the interests of independent grape growers in the Napa Valley and to contribute to the reputation of this valley as one of the premium winegrape growing regions in the world." Today, the group takes responsibility for "promoting equitable grape prices, publishing and circulating accurate market and grape production information, and lobbying for laws to protect the environment and other special qualities of the Napa Valley."

Source: http://www.napagrowers.org/about.htm