Houbsal d’Allée: why the major brands of food and drinks enter new parts of the grocery store

Even if the sales of the Café Centenaire Centenaire warmed up, the leaders of JM Smucker feared that the brand fast growing hides to take a major change in alcohol consumption habits.

The CPG giant has looked at more coffee consumers turn to icy varieties on the go on the office, while running, or like a caffeine pickup in the afternoon.

With cold beers gaining popularity among millennials and consumers of the Z generation, Café Bustttelo could not afford to miss. The category is Forecasts to exceed $ 3 billion by 2030.

Café Bustttelo, which will exceed $ 300 million in net sales during its 2025 financial year and displayed 22 consecutive growth quarters, quickly moved to launch an iced coffee in 2024.

This brought popular coffee beyond its customary stable aisle in the refrigerated space, opening the brand to a whole new section of the retail landscape and increasing the opportunities where a consumer could see Café Busto in the store.

“We took a step back and said:” Okay, where is the opportunity? “,” Said Emily Lucci, vice-president of marketing and coffee at JM Smacker. “Then, while we watched our wallet with Cafe StopWe have seen a huge opportunity with this brand, given where it is today, … to enlarge it again. »»

Powerful brand extensions “make you stop in your footsteps”

Up to up 90% of food products failing in the year following the launchCompanies that take an existing brand in a new space have an immediate advantage. It is also a financially informed decision, allowing companies to generate a higher returns On their investment, because the extension generally costs less money to promote than if they have started a new brand from zero.

“People always want to explore with food and drinks and therefore sometimes when you see a beloved brand in a kind of unexpected place, that makes you stop in your footsteps,” said Mike Van Houten, vice-president of commercial excellence at Nestlé. “It’s (one) … an unexpected break from the standard. It’s really, really powerful.”

The brand’s recognition can help a product stand out, with 80% of consumers saying to Nestlé only if they have already used a brand of trust, see it in another part of the store “will do them … Note,” he said.

Nestlé, for example, brought her Nespresso 40-year-old coffee brewing platform in the Coffee sector ready to drink from the last yesR to exploit the request for drinks on the go. Swiss -based company has also taken its Cold foam coffee brand To help consumers reproduce the coffee experience at home.

One of the biggest launches in Nestlé in 2024 came after its frozen meal brand, Stouffer’s, entered the Kingdom of Stable Food with the Plateau with Macaroni and cheese. The product helped Nestle Rivalize in a segment with nearly $ 3 billion in sales and allowed him to take advantage of the interest of consumers in the stable and frozen food versions.

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“People always want to explore with food and drinks and therefore sometimes when you see a beloved brand in a kind of unexpected place, that makes you stop in your footsteps.”

Mike Van Housten

Vice-president of commercial excellence, nestlé

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Tiffany Grube, Director of Curion qualitative research, said that companies can make a brand in a new category, they must assess the health of the basic product and the way it behaves. A brand in difficulty is likely to deal with the same opposite winds in its new space with the new offer creating additional distractions.

Grobe companies must also understand why consumers love the brand, as they are looking for when they buy it and if bringing it to a new category adapts to what buyers want and need. In addition, companies must determine who they wish to attract to the brand and assess whether equity in a part of the grocery store can extend to another category with different consumers, trends and purchasing habits.

“The advantage of the brand extension can be enormous. For some brands, this is the only way to grow,” said Grobe. “But you have to make sure that this is done well. When this is badly done, you can risk losing not only the target you want to win, but you can leave your main customer by feeling betrayed, or they can stop being faithful.”

Choose extensions that adapt

The food space is strewn with brand extensions that failed after having struggled to resonate with consumers.