Producers share tips for reaching the top shelf

In a panel which saw representation from Dirty Clean Food, Brownes Dairy, Fancy Plants, Fremantle Octopus and Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand, speakers shared their advice for finding the highest price on produce.

One of the biggest takeaways from the panel was that achieving premium pricing is not a "set and forget" process, requiring business owners to always be onto the next best thing.

Brownes Dairy director Natalie Sarich-Dayton said she liked to take a walk down the supermarket aisles, drawing inspiration from other food categories when developing new dairy products, such as lager and lollipops.

She said Brownes was forcing itself to innovate away from white, bland visual associations in the mind of the consumer.

Ms Sarich-Dayton shared the story of failed products - yoghurt in a squeezy ketchup bottle for example, as well as a product which sold unexpectedly well.

Brownes launched Hunt and Brew, a premium iced coffee drink which is currently the most expensive in the milk drink section.

This venture has put Brownes in one of the top positions for buying ground coffee in Australia.

"We are not just a dairy anymore, we've really become a coffee player as well," Ms Sarich-Dayton said.

Hunt and Brew coffee took inspiration from beer, where a decline in popular, name branded beer fell in favour of boutique breweries.

"We are some of the most discerning coffee drinkers in the world, and we're still drinking that sugary iced coffee that tastes terrible," she said.

Hunt and Brew also established an entirely new market in Australia, locally grown coffee beans.

While only small, coffee beans are grown in Queensland and are used in Hunt and Brew's Australia Coffee drink.

When this product was first introduced, all the market insights pointed against the success of the drink, however Ms Sarich-Dayton was confident it would work, and after a little bit of time Hunt and Brew proved itself.

"We put it back on shelves so many times because we believed in it and didn't give up," she said.

"Trust your gut, understand really what it is you're trying to achieve."

Panel facilitator, Julie Hirsch, co-founder of Eloments Natural Vitamin Tea asked Jay Albany, Dirty Clean Foods chief executive, what the most successful strategy for innovation is.

Mr Albany said forming solid partnerships and asking prospective supermarkets or partners what products interest them.

"Then you've also got people to call on when you're ready," Mr Albany said.

He also acknowledged that for different parts of Australia, there were limitations, but using partnerships was a way of preventing risk and maximising potential.

"You really don't want to be so self-centred that you think you can do it yourself, try to form a coalition," he said.

What are the challenges of creating something on the cutting edge?

For Fancy Plants founder, John Foss, it's all about timing.

"Part of the challenge has been too far ahead of your market and then too late," Mr Foss said.

"Working with other parts of the industry and alongside other industries, helps to mitigate a lot of risk, because everyone's risk averse with something new," he said.

When Mr Foss first entered the world of chia seeds, a health and wellness trend was kicking off amongst consumers, and he managed to capitalise on this at the right time.

Relatively unknown at the time, chia seeds came with some problems, such as putting it somewhere customers can easily buy it, getting them to believe that it was a nutritionally beneficial product, and then finding ways to incorporate it into their diet.

Richard Lovell from CP Group, Thailand, supported this, saying avocados weren't a part of Australian diets until the year 2000 where they rapidly grew in popularity.

"It's about understanding how people live their lives," Mr Lovell said.

"Lamb recently in Thailand wasn't really a thing, but then Chinese hotpot came along and it's ridiculous how much lamb shoulder and rib we're selling."

Emma Davidson, general manager for Fremantle Octopus, said as a small business, it was important for them to protect their premium products through licence and supply agreements or risk having the rug ripped from underneath them.

Fremantle Octopus has a niche customer base and Ms Davidson said it's more about securing strong networks with specific markets, rather than trying to bring octopus to the world.

"It's about putting a moat around your business," Ms Davidson said.

Fremantle Octopus almost came to an agreement with businesses in Japan, but felt the product wasn't right for Japan's market, as customers were already willing to pay premiums on other available products.

"It's really important to remember that once you enter a market, it's extremely hard for a brand and product to then go back and reinvent itself," she said.

"That consumption of your product can never be undone, so making sure there's no buyers regret is extremely important.

"Make sure your product is offering something different and that you're going to be able to provide stable growth in that market, and that you'll be able to meet the demand that you're targeting - be strong enough and don't enter until you're ready."

A market that has worked out well for Fremantle Octopus is Whole Foods in the United States, thanks to a shared ethos and good partnership.

"They (Whole Foods) really believe in the ethos of who we are and what we're bringing to the market," Ms Davidson said.

Mr Foss said the difference between prices at supermarket shelves in the US was significant, and sometimes it wasn't about the product itself, but rather where it was placed.

For example, the customer base at Whole Foods can already expect to pay higher prices than other supermarkets.

"My mistake in the US was going too hard too early," Mr Foss said.

"When Walmart rings you up and you're very keen to get your products on the shelves as soon as possible, but a $4 product at Whole Foods is really cheap, and a $3 product at Walmart is really expensive," he said.

During question time, one audience member asked if customers were willing to pay for a product that was more sustainable than cheaper competitors, and if so, does a 'green premium' have any longevity?

Mr Albany said it was too early to tell how long consumers would pay for a more sustainable product, while Ms Sarich-Dayton said it was one of the last things on consumer's minds.

"Three years ago, I would have said absolutely you can get a premium quite quickly in the sustainability space," Ms Sarich-Dayton said.

"The cost of living crisis happened, and now people will not pay a premium for a sustainable product.

"Sustainability is not enough, you need the whole thing.

"People are looking for value for money," she said.