Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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The research was eye-opening. Initial results showed that Marich's target customer was 18 to 34 years old—considerably younger than the owners had thought—and a mix of men and women. "We'd assumed our target was 35 to 45 years old and predominantly female," van Dam says. "When I heard the research, I thought, wait, for a 20-year-old, are we even on their radar?" The answer was yes, something van Dam attributes to millennials' love of and experience with food experimentation. "This generation has been exposed to travel and different cuisines, plus they grew up with premium coffee and Whole Foods. They are interested in discovering things." It soon became clear that that sense of discovery was key to Marich's consumer appeal. "It's discovery in the familiar. We have an approachable product so it's worth consumers stepping out of their usual comfort zones. Take our chocolate almond with toffee. Chocolate and almond is familiar but with the toffee, the execution is just different enough to be worthy of experimenting. That's where we stand out," van Dam asserts. A New Look and Approach A critical part of the new branding approach was helping the company articulate its own point of differentiation. "We couldn't say what made us special before the research," says van Dam. "Shoppers' interactions with our brand may have been positive but it was episodic, not cumulative. It was, I loved that chocolate, where did I get it M ÒThere is room in the market for both private-label and brand business. Companies say, ÔI want that leading brand making my chocolate too.ÕÓ again? We didn't have a memorable approach. We're candy makers. We had to learn to become marketers," he says with a laugh. For starters, Marich consolidated its vast chocolate offerings down to five clear and easy-to-remember categories. "It's about fruit, nuts, coffee, toffee and caramel, and we have a lot of products to address each category," van Dam says. "One of our benefits is we make all these things, but that can be a negative too," he continues. "Now we can get it down to these five categories and have retailers choose from each category which styles, label colors, flavors and textures they want to build a set with eye appeal." The company upgraded its logo with a new font and palette and implemented tiered packaging sizes for retail, including a 2.3-ounce single-serve pack and 4.5-ounce gable boxes. Marich's retail offerings now include 16 varieties in its single-serve line and 20 in the gable boxes. Twenty-four varieties are available in 8-ounce bags. A BRIEF HISTORY arinus van Dam founded Marich Confectionery on November 21, 1983, after a venerable career as a candy maker that began at age 15 in Holland, when he took a job scraping candy remnants from a local factory floor. At the time, young Marinus was helping support his family while his father was in a German work camp during World War II. Impressed, his employers taught Marinus the candy-making trade, where he mastered creating a range of chocolates and confections such as caramels, gums, licorice and jellies. In 1957, Marinus came to America and had a successful career at candy companies in Ohio and California before starting his own business in 1983 in Watsonville, Calif., with several partners. Son Brad, who was pursuing a career in electronics, came aboard eight months later in June 1984, followed shortly by brother Troy, who helped out while still in high school. "We came in to help our dad and thought we'd leave when things stabilized, but we fell in love with the business," Brad van Dam says. The brothers took over the company in the late 1990s shortly before their father died; today, Brad is president and CEO and Troy is executive vice president and COO. Marich's vast line comprises several hundred products and styles, including bulk and custom items. Chocolate-covered dried fruits have been among the company's best sellers, including the chocolate-covered cherries, which won a sofi Finalist Award for Outstanding Classic from the Specialty Food Association in 2001. In addition to chocolate-covered fruit, nuts, espresso beans, toffee and caramels, the company offers jelly beans, maltballs, Black Heart Licorice and special-occasion candies. Marich moved to Hollister, Calif., in 1997 and built a 55,000-square-foot facility, which was expanded by 20,000 square feet in 2006. At presstime, Marich had submitted an application to expand its existing facility in Hollister. While the expansion is still in its planning stages, van Dam says Marich will invest $1.5 million to $2 million in the plant and equipment in 2014. WINTER 2014 101