It’s important to decide if your product is going to be a premium product or not. There are many variables to take into account for premium products, and what might be seen as normal or low budget practices might not work.
Positioning your brand correctly in the market is one of the key success factors in the beverage industry. If you have a premium brand but don’t pay attention to quality and details, it’s likely to fail. In this article, I’ll share my experiences and give you the information you need to make sure your product succeeds.
Quality & Taste
The taste, smell, and experience of a drink are the most important aspects of the beverage business. If a drink tastes bad, no one will buy it again, no matter how healthy it is. Engineering the taste, smell, and experience of a drink is the first goal of those in this industry.
Ingredients
If your product is in the premium category, one of the places you should never think of saving money is in sourcing the ingredients. Premium category products must be sourced from the most exclusive and high-quality raw materials. In our example about &T Tonic water brand, we were researching for a year in different countries to find out the best ingredients for our products, some we found from Asia and some Europe and other continents.
Price changes and expensive shipping can put a lot of pressure on bakers. To make sure you don’t need to increase your prices day by day, I suggest talking to your supplier or importer about shelf life and opting for fresh productions that you can use before they expire. Many suppliers also offer better prices for bigger quantities, so it’s always worth finding out what their offers are.
Package & Trays
After you have perfected your product and are confident that people will love it, you need to turn your attention to the packaging. The material and type of package must be chosen carefully – for more information on this, consult the chapter on packaging. Here, I would like to focus on the details of the label and appearance. Your premium product needs a professional-looking label, printed on high-quality paper. Before going into production, meet with your label producer and ask for several samples on different papers. When creating your product labels, always keep in mind how they will look to potential customers. Make sure you’re happy with the design before printing them out or attaching them to your bottles. And don’t be afraid to make changes if you think they’ll improve the look of your product. Each batch is an opportunity to make your product better than it was before.
When it comes to bottles, always customise the crown cap and top part of the bottle. Don’t leave it with solid colors – your logo and unique design should always be prominently displayed.
Your product needs to be in a nice looking tray or box at the end. Always take the time to properly pack your products, choosing the right tray or box for the situation. For example, you might need different sized trays for wholesalers, bars and restaurants, and chain stores. Packing your products correctly not only makes them look better, but also protects them during shipping and handling.
