The Tomato Soup Marketing Lesson

So, I’m in the soup aisle at the grocery store one day looking for tomato soup and I realize that buying a can of tomato soup isn’t as simple as it used to be. There are many more choices offered by the major tomato soup brand (you know, the one with the red label) than there were when I was a kid. There’s the standard size can of condensed soup (now with a pull tab top), the family size, the ready-to-serve with the twist-off cap, and the single serving size in a microwavable package.

Inside these diverse packaging options is basically the same product. Oh sure, you might have to add water to some of them but other than that it’s essentially the same on the inside. The price on the outside, however, varies greatly, especially when you consider the unit price. So, why would a company offer the same product so many different ways at so many different prices?

Well, I suppose you could call it niche marketing, but in effect they are trying to fill almost every soup niche. The story here is that the company knows all of its customers and is giving each what he or she needs. There’s the customer with a family that needs to feed several family members at a value price. There’s the single person who wants to have just a mug-full of soup at a time. Then there’s the worker who wants to bring soup for lunch and heat it up in the office microwave. Lastly, there’s the traditionalist who has bought condensed tomato soup in the small can for years and years.

How does the company know who these people are and what they want? Market research. By conducting extensive market research, which may include surveys, focus groups and retail sales data, they know that some customers want value, some prefer convenience, and some just want the same product they have always purchased.

This is an important lesson for anyone whose business is selling a product to a customer. You must know who your customers are and what they need, then position your product to fulfill those needs. This applies as much to fresh produce as it does to canned soup.

Knowing what your customers want and need can help you make decisions about what to plant, how to display it, whether or not to package it, whether or not to process it, and what related products to offer.

Of course, you may not be in a position to conduct expensive market research with telephone surveys and focus groups. If you are, great, but there are other ways of getting to know your customers.

You can solicit feedback through a form on your website, put a customer comment card in each customer’s bag, have employees ask customers a few predetermined questions at the checkout counter, or simply talk with customers and jot down notes on what they say. The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) suggests having employees write down customers’ compliments and complaints, then discuss the results at staff meetings.

Also, paying attention to general trends in food marketing, can help you figure out what your customers will be looking for. For example, if you notice that supermarkets in your area are emphasizing prepared foods or low-carb foods, you might be able to find a way to capitalize on these trends.

As a small farm owner, you can’t fill every niche by offering all things to all customers like a big soup company, but you can try to find out a few key facts about your customers and adjust your products and services to meet their needs.

Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the February 2005 issue of Growing magazine.