Garofalo’s Signature Pasta has been selling through Ocado since September 2009. In less than twelve months this little- known brand in the UK has seen over 50% of Ocado pasta customers make Garofalo their pasta of choice, outstripping all other brands.
Managing Director of Garofalo in the UK, Mal Pullan, says that the success Garofalo is enjoying with Ocado is testimony not only to the quality of their product, but also to the sales and promotion strategy they agreed with their main UK retail supplier: “We have worked closely with Ocado’s Trading Director, Gary Hyde, to build up awareness of Garofalo with their customers and to promote the premium position of the range, whilst encouraging trial with sensible price promotions. Our strategy is clearly working very well.”
In Italy Garofalo is one of the most popular premium pasta brands, but with only a niche presence in the UK, raising the profile of the Signature pasta range has meant deploying not only the usual array of targeted advertising and PR activities albeit with a limited budget, but also looking for alternative channels to penetrate the wider consumer base. Garofalo has been building up databases of bloggers, in particular those interested primarily in food, and Mummy Bloggers. Encouraging sampling, online reviews and the exchange of favourite pasta recipes. During the past several months Garofalo in the UK has started to see the success their colleagues in Italy have enjoyed, with active social media activity helping to support their brand profile and with consumer feedback demonstrating that there is an appetite and appreciation for high quality pasta.
Garofalo has plans to introduce new products through Ocado in the coming months and is confident that these will be well received and support its long term strategy to take a significant share of the premium pasta market in the UK. Mal Pullan comments: “We’re encouraging customers to appreciate the better flavours and quality they can enjoy by spending just a little more on their pasta, whilst still enjoying the benefits of a quickly prepared evening meal. Their positive feedback suggests they would like to see more of our range extended in the UK.”
Garofalo
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