Branding fresh food products: Exploratory empirical evidence from the Netherlands

Abstract

There is growing recognition that branding promotes future financial growth and prosperity for agricultural companies and for agribusiness in general. Based on research among retail purchase managers in the Netherlands, this article identifies the variables that influence the level of consumer franchise of fresh foods brands for meat/poultry, cheese, and vegetables/fruit. The results show that both traditional success factors for building strong brands (i.e., order of market entry and level of promotional expenditure) and characteristics closely linked to the nature of fresh food products (i.e., physical possibility to brand, and shelf-life) are important. Furthermore, brands with a higher consumer franchise have a higher financial pay-off for both the supplier and the retailer than brands with a lower consumer franchise. Strong brands also generate more sales at the retail level. © Walter de Gruyter.