Product innovations help Glenisk to drive domestic sales by 44%

Product innovations helped organic yoghurt producer Glenisk increase its Irish sales by 44% during 2011, while Hollywood movie tie-ins have also helped to boost its overseas presence.

The Offaly-based food company has doubled its size in the last 12-18 months. This was largely achieved via a new focus on the parental consumer market, a sales boost in its new organic baby yoghurt range and a series of successful marketing campaigns.

Glenisk managing director Vincent Cleary says these innovations were essential to survive in Ireland’s challenging economy. Glenisk also found that reducing its main family value offering from a six-pack to a four-pack has been a key factor in doubling its sales.

Mr Cleary said: “In 2008, our margins were severely hit. Even now, we are just about at breakeven, even though we have doubled our sales in the last 12-18 months. Six months ago, we also reduced our sugar and increased our fruit content.

“Our product has a unique advantage over other manufacturers in the UK, France and Spain, as it can be eaten by children of six months.”

During 2011, Glenisk capitalised on its products’ ingredient-led parent appeal with a marketing tie-in with the Universal Pictures animated film Hop.

Glenisk reinforced this infant-focused message with a promotional gift of sun shades for cars. Some 3,000 cars in Ireland are now effectively acting as mobile marketers for the brand.

“We’ve heard reports of cars with those sun shades in the US and Germany,” said Mr Cleary, whose innovative approach to marketing was also well received by business students attending the UCC Commerce Conference 2012 in the Hayfield Manor Hotel, Cork, earlier this week.

“We try to keep our marketing budget down to as little as possible. Some farmers came to us last year looking for higher milk costs. I put it back to them that they try to take diesel out of their farms.

“We have placed a capital investment of 2c per litre of milk back into farms in solar panels and wind turbines. That is consistent with our organic brand. We are reinvesting in farmers and that is coming out of our marketing budget,” he said.

Glenisk’s milk is supplied by a set team of contracted organic farmers. With an agreed approach to chemical controls and soil quality, they view themselves as “custodians of the land”.

The sales upturn followed a recession-induced product review in spring 2008.

“We had to reduce our prices. We had some real decisions to make. We could have become a private label seller and drop our brand. We could have changed our branding approach entirely, but instead we decided to make a go of it, and that involved a big change of mindset.

Now, Mr Cleary believes the company can make even further progress in Ireland, by replacing imported yoghurt in Irish shopping baskets. Around 70% of the overall Irish yoghurt market is made up of imported product.