Sam Robinson, Helen Warren and Sarah Huntley were on the LoveBeets stand in Hong Kong.
The company found that UK company G’s was already having great success in this field and so they joined forces, licensing their technology and tapping into their knowledge base for production in Australia. The ‘LoveBeets’ brand is now being grown, produced and marketed in Australia and exported into Asian markets.
“LoveBeets has had a lot of interest,” according to Sam Robson from OneHarvest. “The beet isn’t a well known vegetable at all in Asia, but it’s new and there’s a buzz because it’s different.”
G’s are currently marketing the brand in the UK, Europe, the US and the Middle East. OneHarvest covers Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia, as well as China. The two companies are working together to build a global LoveBeets brand, explains Sam.
All of OneHarvest’s beets are grown in Australia, making it a 100% Australian product.
Prior to the launch of LoveBeets, the Australian beetroot industry had been in a major decline due to decisions by local processors to move production off-shore. But rather than be fazed by this trend, we saw it as creating a window of opportunity.
“Traditionally, beets in Australia have been sold in cans. The industry had been in decline, but Australia and New Zealand have the highest levels of beetroot consumption in the world, so we decided to take a look into it. Then we met the guys from G’s and we liked each other’s approach to business, so we thought, let’s see if we can do this together.”
LoveBeets currently sells baby beets in a vacuum pack, as well as organic juices.
“G’s has the juices made under license, so we will be doing a small trial with those as well,” explains Sam. “The foundation is the vac-packed beets. There is also an infused version, a range of marinated products, in balsamic vinegar, chilli, juniper and black pepper. Our products are 100% beetroot, with no added preservatives, and we think it’s the best tasting beetroot you’re ever going to get.”
Integral to the marketing of the product are the health benefits, as beetroot is great for lowering blood pressure. A single bottle of beet juice can make your body drop 10 points in blood pressure in minutes. This makes it great for stress and anxiety, says Sam.
The juice can also help in building stamina and aiding recovery when exercising.
“A lot of the growth, however, comes from convenience consumers,” explains Helen Warren.
“The ‘single income no kids’ and ‘double income no kids’ who are into healthy eating are the demographic that is really adding growth to our sales. A lot of people are also using it for juicing, as well as in salads.”
As LoveBeets has only been in Singapore and Hong Kong for around a year, the company is still discovering the Asian market.
“We are getting very good feedback, but it’s all a learning process,” explains Sam. “It’s hard to set targets because it’s so new, but we’re certainly aiming to increase our brand awareness and the availability of the product and develop the markets. Perhaps one day we will have growing regions around the world supplying markets.”
At the moment One Harvest has around 70 to 80 tonnes a week of raw beetroot coming into its processing facility in Bairnsdale, Victoria. This will increase through the summer. In Australia in particular there is direct correlation between hot summer weather and salad and beetroot consumption.
“A lot of people use it in salad, but part of our messaging is the many and varied other uses of beetroot. Everything from putting it on a pizza with rocket and goat’s cheese to putting it into chocolate brownies.”
Helen explains that the company has a strong social media presence, as a large part of the promotion is done through sharing beetroot recipes with consumers.
“We do a lot of targeted Facebook advertising to people who are trendy, foodie types and follow those types of pages and people. This summer we are sending packs of beetroots to food bloggers, so that they can write about it. We did this last summer, and are still getting coverage from it. We also do a lot of point of sale advertising, such as in-store recipe cards, or flyers that talk about the health benefits. It’s key with consumers,” says Helen.
“The most important thing with fresh products is getting consumers to try them,” continues Sam. “We have a fabulous conversion rate when people try our beets and we tell them about it. They become fans,”
For more information:Helen Warren
LoveBeets
Email: helen.warren@one harvest.com.au
www.lovebeets.com.au