How to Test Market a Food Product

Your Food Product May Be Awesome, But Will It Sell?

The food industry is estimated to be worth trillions of dollars, according to Forbes. This means that, if you are looking to launch a food product, the market is ripe.

There is room for growth here, but creating a product that people will love is tricky and difficult. With a high-quality, original product, you too can take a piece of the pie…but it is critical that you know how to test market a food product before you embark on this endeavour.

After you have created a product, then you have to test the market. So—ensuring you know how to test market a food product so you can determine whether the market is interested in your product is an all-important step.

This will save you time and money, trying to produce and launch a product people are not interested in.

For your product to be successful, you have to have a sizeable market of people interested. This is one of the reasons why you should learn how to test market a food product.

Testing the market properly gives you an idea of who would buy your product, how much they are willing to pay, and what people like or would change about your product.

Here are the more important aspects of learning how to test market a food product:

• How do you test your market? Many people make the mistake of using their friends and relatives as the litmus test for their food products, and then they end up discouraged and disillusioned. But there are several strategies that you can use to test market a food product. One option is to do it online by using a website, a landing page, or social media. Through online platforms, you can ask people what they would prefer in your type of product; you can also ask them what they like/dislike in the existing brands, and then try to use this data to your advantage. You can also do sampling for your product; this is where you provide free samples for people to try out, and then have them give feedback about your product. You can also do a blind taste test, where consumers taste your product and that of your competitor; find out which brand they prefer, and why.

• How do you test if your product will sell? You can test if your product will sell by conducting proper market research. Try to find out if there have been other similar products in the market, and if/why they failed. Also, try test marketing your food product at the local farmers’ market or at trade shows to see how it performs. Try selling the product for a couple of months before launching it to the stores.

• How do you market a food product? To properly test market your food product, you need to ensure that your target customers know the value they are getting from it. The packaging for the product should be attractive, and you should aim at building brand loyalty with your customers. After you test market a food product properly, marketing becomes easy and successful. Ensure that the information you collected during the test is being utilized to get ahead of the competitors.

• How do I get my product into local stores? While selling your product, at the farmers’ market and locally, before launch, ensure you get information from consumers on places where they usually shop. This will give you an idea of which local stores you should target first. Reach out to these stores and ask for a meeting to present your food product; have a sales pitch prepared, with your findings from the market test, before you go to the meeting.