INTERVIEW
build the brand in the UK. Says Droney: “It was an approach that involved growing the
brand by one customer at a time,which led to customers stay- ingwith us and becoming brand ambassadors. Iwant to achieve something similarwith socialmedia – constant contactwith the actual end users of our products.” Kinvara’s web strategy includes a downloadable e-book of
recipes, video cookery demonstrations and regular blogging. From the consumer shows in the UK each year, the com-
pany builds up a database of email addresses of people who tasted and liked the products. “We use this database to com- municate information such as new product development, new retail listings and special offers through our e-commerce site,” says Droney.
A PIONEERWITH ORGANIC SALMON
Kinvara Smoked Salmon’s main unique selling point is that it was the first to produce organic smoked salmon in Ireland. “The timing was perfect as there was massive growth in the
organic industry and all organic products became fashionable.At the time there was considerable negative press of salmon farm- ing andwild salmonwas being viewed as becoming endangered, especially in Irelandwhere commercial fishingwas banned,”says Droney. “Organic salmon was viewed as an acceptable alternative to
both. Kinvara, being the first to produce organic and the only company to concentrate solely on organic, received a lot of pos- itive press coverage.” To a large degree, themarket for organic products in the UK
was a number of years ahead of its equivalent here,whichmeant Kinvara had to be export-focused fromearly on and developed the UK market first. “We weren’t expecting this but Irish smoked salmon was
regarded as a premium product in the UK.When we first got listed byWaitrose it was because we were Irish.The buyer told me they had done consumer groups and although they hadn’t asked the question, the feedback they received was there was a demand for Irish smoked salmon.We were/are selling on quality, not price.We are usually the most expensive on the
market,”Droney explains. “In 2001 we were voted No 1 smoked salmon in the UK by
the BBC’s Good Food magazine.This was a fantastic accolade for us as a small business in the west of Ireland. “In order to get maximum coverage for this we invested in
public relations with a London agency,Food&OtherMatters, and over the following years attracted press coverage and rec- ommendations from some of the top consumer magazines and food writers in the UK, including Nigel Slater, Tom Parker Bowles and Patrick Anthony.” After its initial success,Kinvara’s strategy was to become ‘the’
organic smoked salmon brand – to be to smoked salmon what Green&Black’s is to chocolate. “In order to do this we needed to redesign our packaging,
so the logo changed. Our designers said our packaging was more suited to a farmshop or farmers’market than an upmar- ket retailer and they were right.We got listed in 100 additional Waitrose stores because of the redesign.” The company grewby 25pc year-on-year for four or five years,
and Kinvara become one of the best-known smoked salmon brands in theUKand Ireland and the best-known Irish smoked salmon brand in the UK, according to Droney. The economic challenges mentioned earlier have held that
growth rate back in the past two years,but he says the company has “weathered the storm” and will continue to invest in the brand. In terms ofwhatKinvara could have done better,Droney says:
“In hindsight, while we were very focused on marketing the product and building the brand,we could have beenmore sales focused and probably could have donemore to convert the pos- itive press coverage into sales. “With our existing customers we should have been more
aggressive in terms of promotion activity.So this is an area we will be promoting in the future. “While our growth was good in Ireland and the UK we
started to look at new markets in Europe and in Japan and Hong Kong.We had modest success in these markets, but we probably would have achieved even more by focusing on our core markets.”
‘WEWERE/ARE SELLING ON QUALITY, NOT PRICE. WE ARE USUALLY THE MOST EXPENSIVE ON THE MARKET’
14 OWNER MANAGER VOL 3 ISSUE 3 2010
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