The Publication For The Grocery Trade

Major New Marketing Campaign For Rowse

The success story of Rowse Honey would make particularly good reading for any business management student. From a modest 8% of a market worth £37 million in 2001 to outright brand leadership with 32% of a £65 million market in 2006, Rowse provides an object lesson in how best practices in production and marketing can lead to growth and profitability. "In the wake of the problem of contaminated honey from China and a pretty uninspiring marketplace, we decided to become extremely pro-active and invest for success", says Stuart Bailey, Managing Director of Rowse. "Following a period of assessment we felt that the sheer versatility of Honey was a great strength and one we should capitalise on. Consequently we developed different Honey ranges, e.g. Organic, to satisfy demand from growing segments, and we addressed a convenience issue by introducing Squeezable bottles, which have become the most dynamic area of the market. Now we are concentrating on honey and health by making Manuka Honey accessible to, and affordable for, our customers. New product introductions, a complete re-vamp of logo plus packaging and finally a high profile trade and consumer advertising campaign which concentrates on Rowse Honey’s usage as a spread, a topping, a sweetener and a cooking aid, have all helped raise the status and awareness of Rowse in the marketplace". "In May this year", says Bailey, "Rowse Blossom Honey overtook Gales as the outright brand leader in Clear Honey, the flagship product in the Honey portfolio. This now means we are the overall brand leader and leader in every sector of the market. It is very satisfying indeed". In Autumn 2006, Rowse embark on the latest Consumer advertising campaign in Women's Press with a substantially increased budget of £500,000. This will run together with an aggressive promotional and sampling campaign which takes the total marketing spend to £1 million. "Our belief that the market would respond to our initiatives was correct", says Bailey. "We will not become complacent, however, so watch this space - we’re going to continue to make things happen". Rowse Honey www.rowsehoney.co.uk