Nestle Reaches Out to Small Businesses in Europe
Nestle is connecting with around 2,000 small businesses inEuropethis year as part of its ‘Taste of Home’ campaign. First developed as a marketing initiative in 2005, the campaign offers a wider range of Nestle products under brands such as Maggi, Nido, Nestle,Milo, Carnation and Nescafe. Imported from Nestle markets worldwide, the products comply with European food laws, and are sold in ethnic convenience stores or ethnic ‘Mom and Pop’ stores acrossEurope.
Under Nestrade – the global trading arm of the Nestle Group – as part of the initiative, the Retailer Development Programme was kick-started this summer for small business owners to encourage entrepreneurism, best standards in shop maintenance, greater integration in local communities and excelling communication with consumers.
Reaching out to ethnic Mom and Pop stores inAustriaandBelgium, which follows on from the extension of the initiative toItalyandSwitzerlandlast year, the small business owners in each of the four countries not only benefit from selling Nestle-branded ethnic food products, but also have the opportunity to grow their businesses while becoming more professional.
In turn, consumers benefit from compliance and increased freshness of the imported products.
Alexander Klein, manager for ethnic food at Nestrade, explains the concept: “Under Nestrade, we are offering the small business entrepreneurs the prospect to build up their business, assisting them to integrate in their local communities, and helping them to become successful.”
He continues: “As part of the Programme, there is the ethnic ClubCard option which works like a loyalty scheme. The small business owners can voluntarily apply for membership as long as they meet certain criteria such as compliance and store hygiene. Once we have judged and accepted their application, we give them exclusive membership whereby they have advantages of exclusive promotions and discounts.”
Branching out toHollandandGermanynext year, the Taste of Home campaign and ClubCard Programme will also be launched in the Scandinavian region in 2013.
