marketing with bread bags

[devlin]

I'm in the middliing stages of putting together my bread kitchen and am thinking about the sorts of things I'd like the customer to know about how I make the breads, apart from specific ingredients -- that I get my bread flour locally, for example, and the mill is the oldest mill in the state, what it means that many of the breads are naturally-leavened, maybe a little something about what naturally-leavened means relative to "sour dough," something about the discrete properties of the flours as opposed to all-purpose flour, a little about my wood-burning Alan Scott oven, the sorts of long processes of fermenting the doughs, that sort of thing.

What sorts of information do you like to see on a bag when you pick up a loaf of bread? And would some well-written background information (historical, local, etc.) be of interest?

[rooftop1000]

As long as one side of the package boldly says the important stuff ...the back could certainly have a story about how the bread came to be

Tracey

[devlin]

As long as one side of the package boldly says the important stuff ...the back could certainly have a story about how the bread came to be

Tracey

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Yes, I'm thinking the front would hold the business name, and a list of the breads with ingredients. The back would be dedicated to everything else.

[Beanie]

I'm in the middliing stages of putting together my bread kitchen and am thinking about the sorts of things I'd like the customer to know about how I make the breads, apart from specific ingredients -- that I get my bread flour locally, for example, and the mill is the oldest mill in the state, what it means that many of the breads are naturally-leavened, maybe a little something about what naturally-leavened means relative to "sour dough," something about the discrete properties of the flours as opposed to all-purpose flour, a little about my wood-burning Alan Scott oven, the sorts of long processes of fermenting the doughs, that sort of thing.

What sorts of information do you like to see on a bag when you pick up a loaf of bread? And would some well-written background information (historical, local, etc.) be of interest?

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Four very interesting topics:

locally milled flour -- important to "buy local" customers

oldest mill in the state -- of great interest to historic preservation types, older customers (great grandpa used to work there in 1875, etc.)

naturally-leavened -- a new concept for many customers and an educational opportunity;

wood-burning oven -- unique; a real "wow" factor.

I'd be interested in more info on all topics, but not necessarily printed on the bag. Don't print information that could become outdated. If the oldest mill in the state closes, you'll be stuck with obsolete bags. Same thing for locally milled flour; you may have to buy elsewhere for some unforeseen reason. I'd stick to the business information on the bag, possibly a picture of your wood burning oven. You can prepare flyers to stick in the bag with info about historic mill, leavening process, etc.

Good luck!

[devlin]

Four very interesting topics:

  locally milled flour -- important to "buy local" customers

  oldest mill in the state -- of great interest to historic preservation types, older  customers (great grandpa used to work there in 1875, etc.)

naturally-leavened -- a new concept for many customers and an educational opportunity;

wood-burning oven -- unique; a real "wow" factor.

I'd be interested in more info on all topics, but not necessarily printed on the bag. Don't print information that could become outdated. If the oldest mill in the state closes, you'll be stuck with obsolete bags. Same thing for locally milled flour; you may have to buy elsewhere for some unforeseen reason. I'd stick to the business information on the bag, possibly a picture of your wood burning oven. You can prepare flyers to stick in the bag with info about historic mill, leavening process, etc.

Good luck!

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Beanie, thank you, those are good suggestions. It may be better to leave off information about the mill for the reasons you outline and include it in a small insert. The leavening process isn't likely to change, though, so I'm thinking I'll keep that.

Good feedback. Thanks.

[Ed Hamilton]

In as much as the bag is a huge marketing opportunity, I would suggest doing as much as you can. If consumers don't want to read all of it, they don't have to. But a good story is as important as the product, at least the first time the consumer picks up your product. Words like hand-crafted, wood-fired, etc add a lot to the product. Don't be afraid to tell a well-worded story, consumers want it. Font, color, type size and formatting as equally important to make the presentation appealing to the eye. And don't forget to add a website, if you have one, where you can add more accolades about your product and additional information about other products that you will be selling in the future.

[Eden]

In our house if it's holding still we generally read it sooner or later, so bring on the detailed info on the back!

But please make the important basic information easy to find on the front. I have one company I buy bread from, that doesn't make it easty to tell which type of bread you're getting from them when you're grabbing a loaf in the grocery - all the bags look pretty much identical & the speciifc bread name isn't in a large font/distinguished well enough from the other info on the package This makes me buy other brands first - bad marketing...

[Wendy DeBord]

I enjoy reading details about small private companies on their packaging. I enjoy stumbling over something interesting to read while I'm eating the product. It personalizes them/the business/the people behind the business, it can make me bond/or identify to a product or the business owners.

[silverbrow]

Assuming you'll have a website as well I would try to combine info on the bags with what's on the site. Therefore, put some info on the bag, but not so much that the website becomes obsolete. Try to make sure that that the info on the bag is enough of a teaser that people visit the w/s, where you can then try to sell them even more product.

You should also try to make the website as much of an informed resource for your customers as it is a marketing and selling tool for you. What I mean by this is provide links to other small producers/suppliers etc, make sure it's a site people visit regularly so that they can learn more about you and your products and therefore buy more from you.

[chefcyn]

Basic info that won't change on the bag, and maybe a little tag/booklet attached at the twistie for the history and special notes about each bread.