Univar Launches Innovative Food Ingredients Campaign

The campaign was developed in response to customer demand for innovative ingredients that enable them to develop end products that meet rapidly evolving consumer appetites, particularly those associated with health and wellness benefits.

Oct 20 2010 --- Univar, a leading global chemical distributor, announced the launch of an innovative approach to drive sales of food ingredients. The Univar Food Application Sample Box presents customers with finished product concept samples that offer them the opportunity to experience for themselves the tastes, textures and colours of a variety of ingredients before placing their order.

The campaign was developed in response to customer demand for innovative ingredients that enable them to develop end products that meet rapidly evolving consumer appetites, particularly those associated with health and wellness benefits. The boxes were developed at Univar’s dedicated Food Laboratory in Brussels and are being rolled out across all 25 of Univar’s EMEA territories.

The box contains a range of drinks and cookies that Univar has developed using ingredients from their portfolio, including enzymes, clear proteins, colours, sweeteners and fibres. Customers can see and taste the samples, experiencing, in a tangible way, the effect these ingredients can have on a finished application. The benefits of the ingredients are clear from the nutritional and recipe information on a CD contained in the box.

“We want to add value for our partners, both suppliers and customers, throughout the sales process,” explained Simon Atkins, Sales and Marketing Manager for Univar’s Food Ingredients business in EMEA. “There are over 100 product samples from which the Univar sales representative can select the most appropriate ones to address the customer’s needs. The most in-demand products are currently low sugar, low fat and high fibre ingredients. Feedback from customers shows it has led to the development of new product ideas and provided solutions to existing food ingredients issues.”

The sampler has also attracted new suppliers who are seeing the sales opportunities Univar is creating.

“Our technical and product development capability means that we can work in partnership with our customers and suppliers to develop innovative ways to use ingredients to overcome production issues,” says Paulo Braga, Technical Manager Food EMEA, Univar. ”The feedback we have shows that customers are not only finding it very useful, but are finding the sampling process a fun way to do business. It has opened doors to new customers and additional territories.”