A couple weeks ago, the Fancy Food editors received the coolest package we’ve seen in a while. BetterOats (www.betteroats.com) sent us a large, suitcase-like box that contained a taste-testing kit for its oatmeal, which is made with 100-percent whole-grain oats, flax seeds and other natural ingredients such as real fruit.The kit included everything — and I mean everything: bowls, spoons and varieties of the company’s oatmeal to compare with the included sample pack of the competition’s product. Also inside the kit were tiny jars containing the ingredients featured in BetterOats’ Oat Revolution Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal and the competition’s Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal. The kit encouraged us to see, touch, taste and smell the difference in each of the ingredients, and honestly, we picked up on them right away. Compared side by side, the dried apple pieces in BetterOats’ oatmeal were visibly larger and more “apple-y” smelling. The oats were full and not pulverized into a powdery resemblance of oats. And perhaps most astonishing were the jars comparing the amount of flax seed in each oatmeal: BetterOats’ jar was full, and the competition’s was empty.
Consider conducting this type of mini taste test in your store — it’s an interactive way to get your customers to notice the differences in the quality products you carry as opposed to those at the big-box stores.
-Ashley
|