Early this morning I delivered my weekly supply of cooking chocolate to home industries near Bogor.Six months ago I started with 2kg. Now I deliver 5 to 6kg a week. The families, three neighbouring houses, in small complex were busy. They will need the chocolate I deliver today for dawn tomorrow.
Everyone was buzzing around. Making chocolate filled buns, chocolate dipped donuts,chocolate tarts, pralines, peanut brittle squares and other fast snacks.By seven the snacks will be packed into plastic containers are quickly whisked off on motorcycles to be distributed to the mom and pop shops within a radius of ten kilometers.
Yes, they said business was good. People were buying.Customers were happily paying a 20 cents a bun to about 30 cents a donut.nd enjoying them.
It is a three-family combined effort. Each family's turnover is about $50 a day.Which gives them a turnover of Rp10,000,000 a month of which 40% to 60% is profit. This small industry and 11 others I work with, seem not to have heard of the Global financial crisis. When I told them they would'nt believe me.Five of them didnt have bank accounts. They needed to have cash around to keep paying for their supplies.
They laugh and play as usual. Immune from the worries that are weighing down, the"investors" who were making their money work instead with chic consultants at Citi, Standard Chartered and others.The money, it seems, simply ran away.Where to? Dick Cheney? Murdoch? McDonald's? Who can tell?
It seems that the "poor" are afloat. The secret seems,energy and hard work.They will stay afloat. Every morning they are pushing out carts of hot soups, fried rice, noodles, chocolate filled buns. Others are turning out children's toys, recycling tires,making bricks, wrought iron gates,selling chickens and goats, knocking out furniture, making door mats, mattresses, meat balls, hamburgers, hot dogs....the list is literally endless.If it is infectious and sweeps the country, wouldn't we have a healthy and jolly economy.
With the profits they continue to pay the school fees, daily needs and take the kids out to the zoo occasionally.A blessed enough life, it would seem, for anybody.
And since they buy nearly 80% of their ingredients from backyard and neighborhood sources, life seems to go on with a calm, contentment for at least all around for a radius of five kilometers.And they keep chocolatiers like me up enough for an occasional respite at Starbucks.What a pity not enough though for a plunge at the Spas like those lucky AIG bastards.
Showing posts with label senior citizens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label senior citizens. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Monday, 6 October 2008
SENIOR CITIZEN'S DILEMMA ON CHOLOLATE.
Marketing people are those young, fabulous people that are ensconced in those lovely towers in Sudirman or Kuningan. From these heights they formulate their strategies to capture as much of the market as possible for their bosses, Nearly all of the products target the equally young and vibrant 25 to 45 age group. Or possibly even on occasions include those under who can watch television commercials and understand them.
THE DECISION MAKERS
They are right of course. In Indonesia these are where the numbers are. Thirty -seven percent of the population is under 15, Forty-six percent are under 45.A recent study in Munich noted that many of the decisions made around the world and particularly in Asia are made by Senior Citizens. It is the Senior Citizens that more often make the decisions on what we use, eat and drink.They play key roles in new product development. They decide on everything from concept to packaging to distribution channels.They make good decisions and awfully bad ones.But they are so respected that we give give them a whacking big bonus especially for bad ones.Probably to soothe their feelings.
WEALTH AND POWER
In the same study in Munich, it was noted that in 2030 consumption by Senior citizens in Europe will be almost 60%. While those under 50 will consume about 42%.
Today in Indonesia we have almost 40million Senior Citizens. Including me. Nearly two million live in Jakarta.If you look around casually, you will see 240,000 at least who are wealthy as well as powerful.Some are close to the top in Forbes list.
Yet marketing people, researchers and particularly advertising people(who loathe us because we screw up their ads)largely tend to ignore the economic driving power of Senior Citizens.Now come on, be reasonable, if your were a young marketing-advertising buck in Milan would you ignore Silvio Berlusconi? I am counting on him to single-handed bail out Europe,before breakfast sometime this week.
The numbers are too small for the marketing department and except for a few on top, too poor.Remember in 23 year the Indonesian economy will grow by 199% and so will the numbers of Senior Citizens. So you better start planning.
THE RETAIL VIEW
The up-market Supermarkets are beginning to see the potential of the over-fifty shopper.These are some of the conclusions of a supermarket group in Jakarta:
1)The Upper Income Senior Citizens visit supermarkets less often. When they do they visit the upmarket ones that have more imported products.
2)The buy the stuff they like, not the price.
3)They dont care much for slick packaging or slogans. The go for the quiet and sleek.ONe that make good sense. Marketing is going to be baffled by this!
4)The contribute significantly to higher margins.
5)Contrary to popular belief they love chocolate.
CATEGORY MANAGEMENT
Sogo's Food Hall seems to have caught on rather smartly to this niche. The category management and the planogram seems to have been developed for the senior citizens. It works so well that the chocolates targeted to the Senior Citizens are frequently out-of-stock.
The convenience stores like Starmart, Indomart and others havent caught on yet. The customers here are largely the teens and Senior Citizens. Simply because these stores are nearer home and often within walking distance.
DESIGNING CHOCOLATES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
In Europe the big manufacturers are already redesigning chocolates foe Senior Citizens.Over there consumption volume and value of chocolate among senior citizens is responding significantly to initiatives by the manufacturers. The smaller manufacturers and artisans have known it all along and have prospered over the years.
It is not enough to address the "concerns" of Senior Citizens.Taste , flavour, texture and mouth appeal are just as important among the different age segments of Senior Citizens as it segmentised for the 5 to 45 years.There are few studies on this.What I ask are you going to feed McCain with perchance he is elected?
THE AUSTRALIANS HAVE DONE IT
As usual the Australians seem to have come with just the right formula of chocolate that will only appeal to their palate but alsoto their health values. Cocoa Farm, Australia have come up with wine infused chocolate. At the moment they have three great bars, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinor Nior. Cocoa Farm has also a rich dark chocolate with only 0.3% natural sugar and a sperb milk chocolate "Roasted Hazlenut and Coffee".The last is my favourite. I have only had it once. The memory remains.
There are many more ideas for developing Senior Citizen chocolate, but I deal with them in future blogs.I am a bit distracted. I on pins and needles waiting for Berlusconi to write out a personal cheque and hand it over to Sarkozy. Then we can all go back and concentrate on chocolate.
THE DECISION MAKERS
They are right of course. In Indonesia these are where the numbers are. Thirty -seven percent of the population is under 15, Forty-six percent are under 45.A recent study in Munich noted that many of the decisions made around the world and particularly in Asia are made by Senior Citizens. It is the Senior Citizens that more often make the decisions on what we use, eat and drink.They play key roles in new product development. They decide on everything from concept to packaging to distribution channels.They make good decisions and awfully bad ones.But they are so respected that we give give them a whacking big bonus especially for bad ones.Probably to soothe their feelings.
WEALTH AND POWER
In the same study in Munich, it was noted that in 2030 consumption by Senior citizens in Europe will be almost 60%. While those under 50 will consume about 42%.
Today in Indonesia we have almost 40million Senior Citizens. Including me. Nearly two million live in Jakarta.If you look around casually, you will see 240,000 at least who are wealthy as well as powerful.Some are close to the top in Forbes list.
Yet marketing people, researchers and particularly advertising people(who loathe us because we screw up their ads)largely tend to ignore the economic driving power of Senior Citizens.Now come on, be reasonable, if your were a young marketing-advertising buck in Milan would you ignore Silvio Berlusconi? I am counting on him to single-handed bail out Europe,before breakfast sometime this week.
The numbers are too small for the marketing department and except for a few on top, too poor.Remember in 23 year the Indonesian economy will grow by 199% and so will the numbers of Senior Citizens. So you better start planning.
THE RETAIL VIEW
The up-market Supermarkets are beginning to see the potential of the over-fifty shopper.These are some of the conclusions of a supermarket group in Jakarta:
1)The Upper Income Senior Citizens visit supermarkets less often. When they do they visit the upmarket ones that have more imported products.
2)The buy the stuff they like, not the price.
3)They dont care much for slick packaging or slogans. The go for the quiet and sleek.ONe that make good sense. Marketing is going to be baffled by this!
4)The contribute significantly to higher margins.
5)Contrary to popular belief they love chocolate.
CATEGORY MANAGEMENT
Sogo's Food Hall seems to have caught on rather smartly to this niche. The category management and the planogram seems to have been developed for the senior citizens. It works so well that the chocolates targeted to the Senior Citizens are frequently out-of-stock.
The convenience stores like Starmart, Indomart and others havent caught on yet. The customers here are largely the teens and Senior Citizens. Simply because these stores are nearer home and often within walking distance.
DESIGNING CHOCOLATES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
In Europe the big manufacturers are already redesigning chocolates foe Senior Citizens.Over there consumption volume and value of chocolate among senior citizens is responding significantly to initiatives by the manufacturers. The smaller manufacturers and artisans have known it all along and have prospered over the years.
It is not enough to address the "concerns" of Senior Citizens.Taste , flavour, texture and mouth appeal are just as important among the different age segments of Senior Citizens as it segmentised for the 5 to 45 years.There are few studies on this.What I ask are you going to feed McCain with perchance he is elected?
THE AUSTRALIANS HAVE DONE IT
As usual the Australians seem to have come with just the right formula of chocolate that will only appeal to their palate but alsoto their health values. Cocoa Farm, Australia have come up with wine infused chocolate. At the moment they have three great bars, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinor Nior. Cocoa Farm has also a rich dark chocolate with only 0.3% natural sugar and a sperb milk chocolate "Roasted Hazlenut and Coffee".The last is my favourite. I have only had it once. The memory remains.
There are many more ideas for developing Senior Citizen chocolate, but I deal with them in future blogs.I am a bit distracted. I on pins and needles waiting for Berlusconi to write out a personal cheque and hand it over to Sarkozy. Then we can all go back and concentrate on chocolate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
