Vegan food business in Italy

[Simona]

Hello All,

Together with my two partners, we are launching a new vegan food, in Italy. It's like nutella for the healthy
We have been knowing the vegan space since 2015, and we know the kind of problems faced everyday.

The target market is clear: we already received interest from nearly 500 people that find it valuable and are waiting for us to put it on the market, as well as some Organic Food shops.
The value offered is clear: few ingredients, no sugar, no diary, no artificial stuff + great taste ---> no sense of guilt.
We are building our laboratory to produce it and opened an e-commerce.

We are starting to work both on the retail and the b2b side, would you find it wise?

Any other feedback or someone who wants to share experience?

Thanks!

 

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[Odysseus M Jones]

Maybe rather than labelling yourself a vegan company, consider 'plant-based.'

Could give you a wider market, especially as vegans tend to be quite militant & create animosity against themselves.

And thanks, you gave me an idea for falafels

 

[amp0193]

We are starting to work both on the retail and the b2b side, would you find it wise?

To scale a food product you need volume.

Volume will come through the retail stores, not the ecommerce site.

 

[Simona]

Maybe rather than labelling yourself a vegan company, consider 'plant-based.'

Could give you a wider market, especially as vegans tend to be quite militant & create animosity against themselves.

And thanks, you gave me an idea for falafels

I love falafels

Yes, in Italy we use "vegetale", I didn't thought of that translation in English. Thanks!

 

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[Simona]

To scale a food product you need volume.

Volume will come through the retail stores, not the ecommerce site.

That's true.
Unless we manage to get volume on the website... I will think about it! thanks

 

[foodiepersecond]

I have been seeing aggressive Facebook ads for the Lakanto Suntella, sunflower based chocolate butter. Is it similar to that?

 

[amp0193]

That's true.
Unless we manage to get volume on the website... I will think about it! thanks

Prove me wrong, but I don't think you will.

For ecommerce to make any sense, you need the average customer buying in bulk, so that the shipping cost per unit is low. Which I don't think is going to be the case for a Nutella-like product.

If they only want to buy one... it'll end up being over $10 purchase a jar. Unless you eat the shipping and lose money on every sale.

The only way I see this getting traction is if there is a shortage of vegan/health food stores in Italy. In the U.S. they are everywhere, and so there isn't much of a reason to buy a single food item online.

 

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[Simona]

I have been seeing aggressive Facebook ads for the Lakanto Suntella, sunflower based chocolate butter. Is it similar to that?

I did not know them, but from what I can read on their website it's not like what we do, the ingredients are very different

 

[Simona]

If they only want to buy one... it'll end up being over $10 purchase a jar.

The only way I see this getting traction is if there is a shortage of vegan/health food stores in Italy. In the U.S. they are everywhere, and so there isn't much of a reason to buy a single food item online.

Exactly, we were considering to create a box with more than 1 jar, so that shipping costs can be lowered - considering also that it wouldn't be environmental friendly.

In Italy you can find vegan food in some supermarkets now but the offer it's still quite low. Some products are available only online, or in big cities with specific shops.

 

[dario]

Exactly, we were considering to create a box with more than 1 jar, so that shipping costs can be lowered - considering also that it wouldn't be environmental friendly.

In Italy you can find vegan food in some supermarkets now but the offer it's still quite low. Some products are available only online, or in big cities with specific shops.

To sell online and kick start your business you can also use Amazon FBA and (in Italy) Macrolibrarsi to ship many units of your product to their deposits and optimize shipping costs. They take care of the complete logistic handling.

 

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[Matt_2190]

Maybe you can sell your product in other e-commerces?

Find some e-commerce that sell vegan/vegetarian food and ask if they wanna sell your product. So if users buy a stock of vegan/vegetarian food, they can add your product to their order (so they can have free shipping).

Of course, you can sell it with your e-commerce too and offer free shipping for orders above X euros or a stock with X products. You can use Amazon FBA/FBM too.

I think that in Italy is pretty difficult distribute your product in big supermarkets, but you can try with little vegan/vegetarian minimarkets: ofter they are small family run shops and they like work with little independent producers.

PS. Maybe before to open your lab isn't better made it with an existing lab and see if there is a market without heavy investments? It isn't important to profit in this phase. Then, when you see that people buy it, open your lab.

PPS. The production is just half of the job. Be sure to know how to market your product. A good social activity with good copy is very important, I guess. I think that this sector it is becoming quite competitive.

 

[Simona]

To sell online and kick start your business you can also use Amazon FBA and (in Italy) Macrolibrarsi to ship many units of your product to their deposits and optimize shipping costs. They take care of the complete logistic handling.

We were in contact with Macrolibrarsi before the lockdown, it seems a good e-commerce!
We did not try yet Amazon because we don't know a lot how it works... maybe we can ask an expert while we study it

 

[Simona]

Maybe you can sell your product in other e-commerces?

I think that in Italy is pretty difficult distribute your product in big supermarkets, but you can try with little vegan/vegetarian minimarkets: ofter they are small family run shops and they like work with little independent producers.

PS. Maybe before to open your lab isn't better made it with an existing lab and see if there is a market without heavy investments? It isn't important to profit in this phase. Then, when you see that people buy it, open your lab.

PPS. The production is just half of the job. Be sure to know how to market your product. A good social activity with good copy is very important, I guess. I think that this sector it is becoming quite competitive.

Exactly we contacted some online platforms that already know and also small shops of organic product in our region.
We want to start with few of them, know better their needs and practice and then ask others shops and bigger ones.

Actually we contacted a company that produce creams, but we noticed that we don't have control of the production, we can't modify the recipe and so on... (I really thought of the Commandment of Control!).
So we tried to produce a small sample at home and with an Instagram story we received 50 requests.
To validate that, we created a survey and received 500+ answers of interested people that left their email.
That's why we worked on our lab!

I totally agree with you: the marketing channels are as important as the product!

 

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[Matt_2190]

Exactly we contacted some online platforms that already know and also small shops of organic product in our region.
We want to start with few of them, know better their needs and practice and then ask others shops and bigger ones.

Actually we contacted a company that produce creams, but we noticed that we don't have control of the production, we can't modify the recipe and so on... (I really thought of the Commandment of Control!).
So we tried to produce a small sample at home and with an Instagram story we received 50 requests.
To validate that, we created a survey and received 500+ answers of interested people that left their email.
That's why we worked on our lab!

I totally agree with you: the marketing channels are as important as the product!

Sounds good, I think then there is a real interest from people.

For Amazon, there are a lot of topics here and a lot of "how to" Facebook groups. I used it but I think that Amazon is good just as an additional channel. I was disappointed with their sellers management: very high commissions, no help from them and you have no control over your customers. However a lot of people shop there.

 

[Simona]

Sounds good, I think then there is a real interest from people.

For Amazon, there are a lot of topics here and a lot of "how to" Facebook groups. I used it but I think that Amazon is good just as an additional channel. I was disappointed with their sellers management: very high commissions, no help from them and you have no control over your customers. However a lot of people shop there.

There's a lot of potential for sure! I don't know enough at the moment, so we'd better start with the channels we already know how to use (facebook/instagram - microinfluencers - offline - website).