SPC’s new managing director Reg Weine describes how a tough manufacturing climate has invigorated the Coca-Cola Amatil-owned fruit processing business.
Q: Have there been any positive spin-offs for SPC in the face of the tough manufacturing conditions of recent years?
A: Yes, it’s really made us focus on doing more with less and being more creative. It has also increased our focus on supporting our brands and accelerating our innovation and NPD.
At the same time, we have used our adversity very effectively in our marketing communications strategy. We successfully used the backdrop of a company in dire straits as a strong ‘call to action’. We dialled up the emotive message about our unique Australian heritage and the need to support Aussie growers, at the same time reinforcing our core proposition – being Australian made and grown.
Building on the consumer insight ‘knowing where your food is from’ we launched what is arguably the most awarded and successful food advertising campaign in our industry in recent years – #MyFamilyCan. In doing this we have formed closer and more direct relationships with our growers, featuring many of them on the front of our packs.
We have also forged stronger customer relationships with our major trading partners, who were very supportive in our hour of greatest need, and who continue to support SPC and our many growers.
One of the unintended consequences of the difficult trading environment has been the positive change in our culture. SPC’s ‘near death’ experience has galvanised our employees and boosted our engagement. We have built a resilient and agile team that collaborates and problem solves really well and that readily embraces change.
Q: In terms of product innovation, which areas have reaped the most success, and what lessons will you take into future product releases?
A: Snack cups – as part of our $100 million capital investment program, our move into the snacking occasion with a new cup format has been a huge success.
We have achieved great trial and repeat purchases and despite our higher price, we are taking share from cheaper, inferior quality, imported fruit.
We commissioned our new line in the middle of the fruit season which created a few challenges for our operations team, but we also learned a lot from the experience that will hold us in good stead as we move forward with the remainder of our capital investment program.
We’ve also spent a lot of time and effort on improving our core ranges. Our SPC and Goulburn Valley Multi Serve Fruit quality is better than ever, our Ardmona tomatoes continue to attract a premium shopper at a premium price, and IXL jam continues to be the market leader in Australia.
Perfect Fruit is a potential game changing innovation for us. Designed for the ‘out of home’ market, it’s a fruit based soft serve that tastes just like ice cream, but with less than 70 calories per serve. With a long shelf life and ambient supply chain, we feel this innovative concept has massive potential, especially in QSR. But like a lot of great ideas, they sometimes take time to gain traction in the market and we need to remain patient and execute really well.
Q: Which emerging consumer trend will be the most crucial to the company's ongoing success in the Australian retail space and why?
A: At SPC we are focused on three key trends; snacking, ageing and health & wellbeing.
Australia’s eating habits are constantly changing in line with busy, fast paced and often hectic lifestyles. We are aiming to provide healthy and convenient ‘on the go’ snacking solutions for all occasions.
Our newly launched SPC Provital range has the potential to be our biggest brand and launch ever. Designed and formulated for healthy, active seniors (50+) we’re currently selling this range in the aged care and health care sectors. Provital addresses two very significant and prevalent conditions and unmet consumer needs: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Dysphagia. We have worked very closely with clinicians, hospitals, CSIRO and the Institute for Bone & Joint Research and therefore we believe the Provital proposition is very strong.
Our fruit and vegetable products are inherently healthy, but we are not immune to the anti-sugar crusade and consumer perception that some of our products contain added sugar.
Over the past 12-18 months we’ve reformulated much of our range to reduce, and in some instances remove, sugar altogether. Next year most of our can, jar and snack cup fruit range will have a “no added sugar” claim and label.
We’ve launched IXL jam with stevia which contains 60 per cent less sugar, and we'll be incorporating the Health Star Rating across much of our range from 2016.
