2. Since 1965 Popkoff’s had been exclusively sold and marketed to a very
traditional ethnic consumer base located in San Francisco. When new
owners acquired the brand in 2011 they envisioned bringing their delicious
Russian Dumplings into the traditional mainstream consumer market, but
were unsure how to proceed.
In January 2014 Popkoff’s was only being self distributed and sold to
approximately 30 Mom & Pop type stores in a very small geographic region
of Northern California. They had a dated website that was not dedicated to
their dumplings and nothing else in the way of social media presence or
marketing materials. Their packaging was unremarkable and not appropriate
for the conventional marketplace they wished to enter. The quality of the
products was good, but there was nothing that made the Popkoff’s brand
unique. The recipes in which they used to present their products were very
traditional and appealed to their very traditional clientele.
Reveal Brands was retained to create and implement a “Go-to-Market”
strategy aimed at penetrating the conventional US consumer market and
more specifically National chains like Whole Foods.
3. Step 1- Market Analysis
• US Category review and assessment
– Identification of category gaps and opportunities
– Analyst market research reports detailing sales by segment
– Photographs of competition packaging
– Matrix of competition pricing
• Competitive product positioning market messages
– Determine strength and defining characteristics
provided by Reveal Brands™ 3
4. MRS. T’S
o Location: Wal-Mart,
o Differentiator: Family size = 2 lb., low fat, home cooked in minutes
Boil, Sauté, Bake, Deep Fry, Grill
o Packaging = 32 oz. bag / photo of prepared meal
o Frozen
5. PELMEN FOODS
o www.pelmen.com (store locator = Toronto / recipes to-come)
o Differentiator: family owned and operated since 1996, 100% natural ingredients
authentic flavors = potato w/ fried onions, sauerkraut, spinach & feta, (below)
o Note spelling: perogies & pelmeni
o Packaging = bag / photo of prepared meal
o “A taste of tradition”
6. KASIA’S DELI
o www.kasiadeli.com, (Chicago)
o Differentiator: Kosher certified / “Made with all natural ingredients”
o Newsweek featured as “top 15 small food companies”
voted “Chicago’s Best” / served on United Airlines
o Packaging = sealed carton with product window / 14 oz. = $4.99
o (does not sell pelmeni)
7. Consumer Survey
• Questionnaire survey
– Quantitative research methodology
– Understand how consumers perceive the product categories
– Learn about purchasing and usage behavior
– Explore potential naming and headline positioning
• Objectives
– Determine target market
– Identify appealing factors for the broad market
– Research pricing and purchasing preferences
provided by Reveal Brands™ 7
8. Popkoff’s Market Research
• Must have household with more than 1 person.
– 2 people (30%), 3 people (27%), 4 people (27%), 5+ people (16%)
– 62% have children under 18 years old
• Must have purchased either of the following frozen food
items within the last 6 months:
– Pasta Entrees (stuffed: ravioli, pierogies, dumplings, tortellini, pot
stickers)
– Vegetables (carrots, potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms)
• Must be primary shopper and make choices regarding brands
to purchase.
provided by Reveal Brands™ 8
9. Are you familiar with the following items?
Have you prepared them at home?
Pelmeni & Vareniki
• 75% of participants have never heard of them
• About 15% know of them but have never cooked it
• About 9% have bought and prepared them
Others:
o 49% have bought and prepared pierogies
o 73% have bought and prepared tortellini
o 89% have bought and prepared ravioli
o 86% have bought and prepared Hot Pockets / pasty
provided by Reveal Brands™ 9
10. Most important when deciding upon meals
to feed your family?
A majority found these factors “important/very important”:
– Flavorful (90%)
– Healthy (79%)
– Price (76%)
– Easy to Prepare (67%)
– Hearty (55%)
– 100% all natural ingredients (54%)
• Low Sodium (49%)*
• Known Brand (46%)*
Top responses with selection of “not important”:
– Gluten Free (41%)
– Fat-Free (17%)
– Organic (17%)
provided by Reveal Brands™ 10
11. How do you learn about NEW food
items at the markets where you shop?
provided by Reveal Brands™ 11
12. Are you familiar with these food products
with Eastern European origins?
provided by Reveal Brands™ 12
13. Are you familiar with these items or
people with Russian origins?
The most recognized:
- Vodka (94%)
- Sochi Olympics (90%)
- Tolstoy’s War & Peace (75%)
- Red Square (71%)
- Maria Sharapova (70%)
- Tchaikovsky (70%)
- Faberge Eggs (68%)
- Nesting Dolls (67%)
14. What do you consider a reasonable price
for the 4-serving, 16 ounce package?
provided by Reveal Brands™ 14
15. Recommendations
• Determine if product names need to be changed or modified
positioning / messaging
• Determine strengths and defining characteristics for brand
• Brand, category and product positioning
– Identify optimal positioning and messaging options
– Develop messaging and positioning matrix to serve as the foundation
for all sales / marketing / corporate communications
– Leverage market data, focus groups, and questionnaires
– Define trade-focused and consumer-focused product attributes
– Develop tagline and packaging grammar/content for U.S. market
• Establish the brand’s core values and characteristics
• Create foundation for product story
• Create packaging design and comps for initial presentation
• Top-level research for trademark and URL availability
– All name options will be vetted through top-level trademark search
• Recommendation for legal team to execute final trademark
provided by Reveal Brands™ 15
25. Go-to-Market Planning
• Based on consumer data and market research findings, develop a
comprehensive “Go-to-Market” strategy
• Develop strategic sales and marketing plan
• Create marketing budget, timelines and objectives
• Develop sales and distribution strategy and objectives
provided by Reveal Brands™ 25
30. Why Reveal Brands?
Today Popkoff’s is the No. 1 selling brand of Pelmeni in the United States.
Popkoff’s is now being distributed by KeHe, C&S, Burris, SYSCO, PFG,
Bozzuto’s and more; and sold by some of the country’s largest and most
recognized chains across the country. Popkoff’s can be found in nearly 1800
stores like Whole Foods, Safeway, ACME and SuperValu in 20 plus states
around the country.
New content is being posted daily to social media outlets, bloggers, Instagram
and Facebook. Popkoff’s is now featured regularly on QVC and being shown to
consumers in every state across the country. Popkoff’s sales have grown
exponentially over the last two years and the owners have built and brand new
55,000 square foot state of the art production facility and are capable of
producing nearly 10,000,000 pounds of product per month.
Reveal Brands has been responsible for the oversight and implementation of
Popkoff’s “Go-to-Market” strategy from day one developing its long term
strategy, training staff, retaining brokers and distributors, negotiating contracts
with sourcing partners, packaging design, FDA labeling, project management,
GSFI certification, USDA requirements, HACCP planning and more.
Editor's Notes
Column should have read “somewhat NOT important” or have switched “somewhat important” with “neutral”
