Vitacress Baby Leaf Salad was launched in Portugal in August 2003. No fanfare, no additional promotion, no dedicated marketing push. The product was put on the shelves – and Vitacress waited to see what would happen.
‘We decided to just let consumers get used to the idea of seeing Vitacress on the supermarket shelf,’ explains Susana Pais. ‘Only after eight months did we start doing in-store tasting, offering take home samples and running cross-promotions.’
The launch strategy paid off. In the first twelve months, sales exceeded forecasts by more than 40 percent, and Vitacress captured over 40 percent of the supermarket display space available to packaged and refrigerated salads and vegetables.
Today, Vitacress is an internationally recognised brand sold in more than 200 branches of Portuguese supermarkets. In November 2005, the packaging design was shortlisted by the Design Business Association for a Design Effectiveness Award.
The company estimates it has increased its Portuguese division’s total gross sales by more than 60 percent. Meanwhile, as the scale of production increased in line with greater sales, unit production costs fell. The success of Vitacress Baby Leaf Salad has also created 60 jobs in the Alentejo agricultural region where Vitacress built its new factory.
‘Consumption of bagged salads has risen in Portugal, and we have made a major contribution to that,’ says Pais. ‘We estimate that 75 percent of our success is down to the packaging design because anecdotal evidence suggests shoppers feel drawn to the product at point of sale. The design delivers immediate visual appeal.’
