Johan Sanders, Fedima president: Sourdough in four key messages

Sourdough in four key messages

Fedima, the Federation of European Manufacturers and Suppliers of Ingredients to the Bakery, Confectionary and Patisserie Industries, has been conducting a campaign to promote and increase sourdough awareness among industry members and consumers. Fedima’s president, Johan Sanders, reveals the concept, execution, and impact of the campaign based on an in-house consumer study.

+Mihu: Why are these kinds of activities important in today’s environment? Why are such messages necessary dialogues in the industry? Johan Sanders: One of Fedima’s objec-

a tives is to create a European playing field, d i e which is especially important now because © F the playing field is changing from a panEuropean perspective to the trend of going back to a local kind of thinking – and Brexit is just one example of this trend. On the one hand, going local is associated with familiarity and can have positive connotations; but, on the other hand, there can be side effects. Confusion is one of them, regarding countries where a product is allowed while elsewhere it might not be, for example, and the subjective arguments surrounding them, which create confusion among consumers. Mihu: Sourdough itself is part of a trend of going back – in time. Sanders: Sourdough is going back and going forward. The trigger for the market research on which this campaign is built was a need to better understand the market ourselves and learn from that. One of our observations from Fedima’s own market research was that, in some countries, sourdough is hardly known. In the Netherlands, where I live, sourdough is a little-known topic. With this minimal awareness comes a similarly limited frequency of consumption. However, in other countries including Germany, Italy, m or Spain, sourdough is almost mainstream. There is also a lack of understanding and awareness regarding sourdough, according to the research we did in nine countries, Fedima’ s presiden where over 5,000 people were surveyed. We found that 58% of European consumers do not fully understand what sourdough is. This is where t, Johan Sanders Fedima can step in and try to educate people about sourdough. Mihu: What is the timeline of Fedima’s research? Sanders: The research was carried out in 2019, following a workshop held in Milan, where we discussed with our members what we could learn from this project. At that General Assembly, we also concluded that there was an opportunity to talk about sourdough. We decided to start the campaign in October 2020, to ensure it would be visible and ran it for about three months. It recently finished, and we plan a soft repeat later on. Mihu: What is the intended audience for the campaign? Sanders: The target is anyone who works with sourdough in general. This is why we chose LinkedIn as the platform to run this campaign: to meet the experts, because they each have their professional network in this space, and to meet consumers who are linked to profiles and pages where the campaign is visible. Ideally, we would like to eventually reach consumers but, we should first educate opinion leaders. Mihu: The campaign ran for three months. What did it entail, from concepts to execution? Sanders: Our marketing and communication committee used the research Fedima developed to brief an external agency. Four videos and nine visuals were made, and all the messages were checked by our technical committee to ensure the messages relayed are accurate and unbiased, aside from being attractive. The workshop in Milan helped us gain an embedded understanding of what key concepts resulted from our research, to really bring forward objective messages of the focus areas. We will follow this sequence in the future: external research, objective information, internal discussion, © Fedima extract key learnings, which will then be taken by the marketing committee to an agency to translate them into messages that are easy to understand and remember.

The next stage will be in March and April, while at the same time we are considering what categories would be a good fit for new research. We will reinforce our messages because we’ve learned they have been well received and we are aiming to expand our reach outside of our immediate communication ‘bubble’. Mihu: How could such a campaign be brought into a physical meetings field, trade fairs included? Sanders: This is an extremely interesting question, because associations are often underrepresented in tradeshows or conferences, with companies typically occupying this field. It’s an interesting opportunity for associations, especially when coming in with independent knowledge. Mihu: What is the role of sourdough powerhouses and what inspiration can traditional sourdough makers and corresponding regions provide? Sanders: In places with a strong background, we aim to deepen the knowledge and we can be very factual. We plan to train our national associations to raise awareness accordingly, to translate materials and go a bit more in-depth with the information in countries like Italy, for example. This is one of the next phases we are thinking about, because the level of knowledge and the interest are so varied. While in the Netherlands, we would aim to educate; the conversation in Italy will be more technical and will delve into the benefits. Mihu: What points did you aim to get across with the campaign and on what conversation level? Sanders: We promoted the topic on multiple levels; in some areas, we focused on the taste and nutrition aspects, while in others, we led with sourdough’s heritage and how it’s made.

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LinkedIn was the main channel and the starting point for the campaign, as well as associations carrying on the conversation locally and beyond the networking platform. Mihu: What feedback have you received? Sanders: It was interesting to receive feedback on many levels; internally, we saw members of Fedima appreciating the association advocating and educating customers and consumers on this topic. We also saw positive reactions to the simple information format we provided – I think people are receptive to information that is easy to assimilate and that comes from a reliable source and is backed by consumer research. It shows there is a need for associations to objectively educate people, and we saw this from the overwhelmingly positive reaction, even more so in COVID times. Mihu: How have consumer trends been evolving during this time, with the impact of COVID-19? Sanders: Talking with industry leaders about managing the pandemic situation, we observed in our workshops that people tend to go back to the food they understand and they appreciate, so the more niche products and variations are to some extent left behind. This is why bread is back in the spotlight, and it explains why home baking was popular among lockdown activities. It has to do with going back to tradition, simple flavors that consumers are fond of. Bakers adjusted their portfolios to include fewer variations and more of the traditional, core products – and sourdough matches this description as well. Besides, the taste element plays an important part, and sourdough has a notoriously unique taste which is associated with better-for-you indulgence, especially sought after at present; the historical, traditional element is also a draw. Even if our research had taken place before COVID, sourdough ticks all the boxes in what consumers are seeking now. Mihu: What will be the drivers for growth in sourdough going forward? Sanders: It will be different for each country, between the three dimensions (heritage, taste and nutrition). In the Netherlands, where there is less heritage and knowledge, taste could be the prevalent message; Italy has more tradition with sourdough, while in Germany, it’s a mixture of all three aspects, with a drive towards health aspects. Mihu: What about product variety? Bread is the staple product, but what opportunities are there for other product segments? Sanders: I see more and more people using sourdough as a base for different kinds of products. We see it going beyond bread into other categories, with the trend for sourdough, healthier and more nutritious food supporting such development. At Dawn Foods, we’ve been focusing on sourdough donuts, for example, because it is such a unique taste experience. Everything from sweet pastry to savory or hybrid products can be a support for growth in sourdough. Mixing and matching will continue and, if sourdough is positioned as a healthy, heritage ingredient, it will go into every confectionery area where it’s suitable. Mihu: What role could different strains and flavors of sourdough play? Sanders: Having so many different starting strains is in itself a conversation starter, because people will remember a flavor they particularly like and want to trade strains. It’s similar to wine making in a sense. The richness in variations is an opportunity, especially as there are no negative connotations associated with sourdough, but only positives. Mihu: What plans regarding sourdough will Fedima develop after 2021? Sanders: It’s a good question, that is one of the debates we are having at Fedima now – how many campaigns we should do, and how often they should be repeated. It’s possible we will research sourdough again in the future and reinvigorate the campaign. +++