Selfridges brings underground food labels into the spotlight

05/08/2015
British department store chain Selfridges is introducing previously undiscovered food artisans to consumers through a culinary campaign.

For “Meet the Makers,” back for a second year, the store will showcase the British food purveyors behind 12 brands through a series of in-store events in its Foodhall, exclusive restaurant experiences and online content. This campaign enables the retailer to showcase its forward-looking buyers, while also making a connection with aspirational consumers through accessible food.
“We are in Britain and should support British food makers, not only because this appeals to the tourist market but also Britain is producing some outstanding products right now that stand up against many international producers,” said Dawn Davies, grocery, wine and spirits buyer for Selfridges, London. “We are highlighting many of them at the moment, but this is something we do throughout the year not just on once.
“We have a very varied consumer base. For the international customer highlighting the best that Britain has to offer can only add to their positive perception of the country and add interest to their visit,” she said. “If they choose to take products home with them as gifts it can spread the word about the quality of what we are producing here.
“For our local customer Selfridges is a place where they come and find out what is new and exciting and Britain is on top of food trends at the moment. Local is the new global and it is important to hero this within what we do.”
Making an introduction
Meet the Makers officially launched July 30, and the campaign will run through Oct. 31. Throughout the 10 weeks, Selfridges Foodhall will host cooking demonstrations, food tastings and meet-and-greets with the chosen makers.
This year, the dozen food makers range from chocolatiers and marshmallow enthusiasts to health food and coconut water, each with a unique story to tell.
For instance, Mons Cheeses was founded by a freight driver, Hubert Mons, who followed his passion for food to a plot of land in France, where he built a family home and a facility complete with naturally cool cellars in which to mature the cheese. This ripening space design continues to this day, even as the brand has expanded to Britain and Switzerland.
Consumers can read about these makers on Selfridges’ Web site, as well as learn about them via social media. On the Web page for Meet the Makers, consumers can also learn about the events happening in the retailer’s stores.
In its restaurants, Selfridges is partnering with the National Trust, bringing in top chefs for a Meet the Chefs dinner series, in which the culinary minds will create dishes using produce from farms within the conservation charity along with foraged ingredients.
This campaign also sees Selfridges as the first store to stock packaged foraged food, with the addition of label Wild Food by Mash. Mash, a 150-year-old family business, carefully picks wild food in forests and shores, with the offerings varying by season.
Mash, along with Natural England and the National Trust, are campaigning for better foraging habits that take into account sustainability, such as protecting animals’ habitats and limiting the amount that can be picked.
Other themed dinners will include a “Best of Ireland” event on Sept. 9 and a Glenmorangie dinner which carefully pairs whiskeys with different dishes.
Consumers will be able to participate in a vote for their favorite maker. The winner will receive a six-month mentoring program with members of Selfridges’ team, who will guide them through marketing, packaging, branding, product development and PR.
Tour guide
During last year’s Meet the Makers, Selfridges acted as tour guide for consumers looking to broaden their food knowledge.
Selfridges took consumers on mini walking tours of its chocolate department to raise their cocoa awareness.
The 30-minute “safari” takes participants around to various brands’ sections in the department, including Charbonnel et Walker. Giving the background and allowing for exploration will likely make consumers want to return to Selfridges for their chocolate needs (see story).
Consumers look to department stores to bring them the latest and greatest and find the next best thing.
Chinese department store chain Lane Crawford is appealing to its customers’ sense of adventure in its summer campaign, “Love The Unknown.”
Creative displays appear in stores across the brand’s portfolio and online editorials engage fans globally. Ultimately, the campaign is striving to inspire purchases of designers from diverse places as a way to embrace the adventurous idea of discovering the unknown (see story).
“We had an amazing response to our campaign last year which is partly the reason why we are repeating it,” Ms. Davies said. “In a society where food production is getting further away from the consumer people are wanting to get closer to what they are eating and know who is behind the products.
“Campaigns such as Meet the Makers allow the customer to learn about what they’re eating and engage with the producers, which they are very keen to do.”

Fonte:http://www.luxurydaily.com/selfridges-brings-underground-food-labels-into-the-spotlight/

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