Of the Swiss dressing, Mary says, “once people try it, they’re hooked on it. They mail it around the world . . . their American friends come and buy quantities of it to take home.” Describing the popular Caesar flavour, she says, “after people try it, they realize it’s different …it’s a finer, European type of Caesar dressing …very similar to home-made.” But, they soon discovered, it takes more than just taste and consumer demand to get the product on and off the store shelves. Mary and Ernie sought assistance from Alberta Agriculture and the Alberta Food Processors Association (AFPA).
More than Just Taste At AFPA, they met Terry Rachuk, Industry Technology Advisor, with the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). An expert in the field, Terry assisted them with the development of their plant and also suggested they speak to NRC’s Canadian Technology Network (CTN).
CTN Advisors, Jeff Pallister and Pauline Patenaude, Certified Management Consultants with the Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CAMC) assisted with Boccalino’s business development and marketing directions. In general terms, Mary says, “identified critical business issues specific to the manufacturing industry that we had overlooked in our existing plan.”
Jeff reviewed the financial aspects of the company and pointed out the “general and specific issues of developing our business,” says Mary. He highlighted missing budget items and provided feedback that helped the company make business changes; for example, exploring and attracting brokers/distributors for wider distribution.
Although, Boccalino’s product was gaining popularity and being sold at a few locations in the surrounding area, market share was somewhat limited. Mary says, “it wasn’t simple” to market the dressings to the large food store chains. Pauline’s assistance was timely, as she provided a detailed analysis of trends, packaging, distribution and related marketing initiatives. In the area of packaging, the company has since hired a graphic artist and scaled up their labeling. Furthermore, feedback from the consumer indicates, that their uniquely shaped bottle is quickly becoming a trademark of the company.
Securing Space Mary says, “Pauline and Jeff’s reports and visits provided insights into key financial and marketing strategies.” Since meeting with CTN in July and August 2001, Boccalino has secured agreements with distributors and a retail grocery broker that was recommended by Pauline Patenaude. They have also launched the “food service” aspect of their business: Boccalino supplies dressings to various restaurants in the surrounding area and are now pursuing the larger Calgary restaurant marketplace. Creative as always, Ernie is working on yet another new and very unique dressing that has already attracted the attention of one prominent Calgary restaurant.
In terms of business support for Alberta initiatives, Mary says, “the people in the industry are pulling for us . . . any number of pitfalls can work against you, yet at the same time there are a lot of resources that can help steer you in the right direction.”
A true success in the food processing industry, Boccalino looks forward to securing space, not only, on the shelves of many food retailers, but also, on the tables of restaurants and homes worldwide.
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For more information contact:
Canadian Technology Network
1-888-CTN-0001
http://ctn.nrc.ca