H ow a re yo u a c h i e v i n g t h a t , g i ve n t h a t C o o p l a n d s n o l o n ge r m a n u fa c t u re s i t ’ s ow n p ro d u c t s ? It’s a good question and one that we’re often asked. I wholehear tedly believe that w e c a n s t i l l g i v e o u r l oy a l c u s t o m e r s , o l d a n d n e w, a h i g h q u a l i t y, v a l u e p r o d u c t e v e n i f w e are not manufacturing ourselves. We s t a r t e d t h i s p r o ce ss o f change by being clear and determined about restocking the shelves with quality products. We h a v e d o n e t h i s by f i n d i n g and securing impor tant local s u p p l i e r p a r t n e r s w h o p r o d u ce a n e xc e p t i o n a l p r o d u c t a n d b u y into our vision for Cooplands. There are some amazing local f o o d p r o d u c e r s i n Yo r k s h i r e t h a t g i v e u s s o m u c h c h o i ce . H av i n g said that, we’ve gone back to producing cakes ourselves, which w e a r e v e r y e xc i t e d a b o u t . C a n yo u g i ve a n e x a m p l e o f t h e k i n d o f l o c a l p ro d u ce yo u w i l l sell? Ye s , s u r e . O b v i o u s l y i n t h e p a s t , Cooplands made and sold its o w n b r e a d a n d w e wa n t e d t o g e t back to selling a quality product. I t ’ s a s l o w p r o c e ss a n d i t ’ s t a k e n us a few months to find the right q u a l i t y, b u t w e a r e n o w w o r k i n g w i t h a l o c a l f a m i l y b u s i n e ss w h o a r e t o t a l l y p a ss i o n a t e a b o u t making a good, honest tasty product. The bread we stock is made from scratch (unlike the bread which supermarkets sell). I t ’ s c o l l e c t e d a n d d e l i v e r e d d a i l y, s o i t ’ s a l wa y s f r e s h i n o u r s t o r e s . It costs us a little bit more to do this but we really believe in this a s a p o i n t o f d i f f e r e n ce . B u t h ave n ’ t t h e s u p e r m a r ke t s t a ke n t h e l i o n ’ s s h a re o f b r e a d s a l e s away f ro m i n d e p e n d e n t b a ke rs o n t h e h i g h s t re e t ? That’s absolutely right. There h a s b e e n a s h i f t a way f r o m customers buying their bread f r o m h i g h s t r e e t o r co m m u n i t y bakery shops, but that’s more to do with the traditional bakery
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shop moving their main offering to one of ‘food on the go’ and focusing on selling takeaway products for the lunchtime sandwich market, for example. At Cooplands, not only do we sell great bread made from s c r a t c h n o w, b u t w e c a n u s e i t to make fantastic sandwiches with! It’s how things used to b e a t C o o p l a n d s y e a r s a g o. We h av e a l r e a d y b e e n w o r k i n g o n new lunch products, which will hit the shops in the lead up to Christmas. Yo u s e e m t o b e ve r y m u c h fo c u ss e d o n p r o d u c t r e p u t a t i o n , w h i c h i s w h a t C o o p l a n d s wa s o n c e k n o w n fo r. A b s o l u t e l y. T h e w o r l d h a s changed and we want to return to the original, simple Cooplands values, but in new ways, if t h a t m a k e s s e n s e? P e o p l e h a v e very fond memories of cer tain products and, while we want to retain those customers and keep t h e m h a p p y, t h e r e h a s t o b e a b a l a n ce b e t w e e n s t o c k i n g i t e m s because they have ‘sentimental value’ and looking a bit fur ther ahead to what new customers wa n t . We h a v e t o g i v e a l l o u r customers what they want , which goes for all retailers. I’ve a l way s s a i d t h e r e i s n o r o o m f o r a r r o g a n ce o r c o m p l a c e n c y in retail!
H o w a r e yo u go i n g t o s p r e a d t h e word? We a r e w o r k i n g o n a v e r y e xc i t i n g , c o n t e m p o r a r y marketing strategy to establish the Cooplands brand, focusing both on bringing back regular customers and attracting new customers in to all our shops. We ’ r e g o i n g t o b e s h a r i n g s t o r i e s about Cooplands, its products and our suppliers and running regular events and competitions to engage people. Our marketing campaigns will be highly visual and we’ll be doing a lot of regular social media messaging to reach out to new customers. We p l a n a s e r i e s o f r e g u l a r m e a l deals to ensure we appeal to the ‘ l u n c h o n t h e g o ’ c r o w d . We ’ l l be working with the Council, local employers and media outlets to shout about what we’re doing – and we have some r e a l l y e xc i t i n g n e w p a r t n e r s h i p s with local organisations and social enterprises which we will a n n o u n ce s h o r t l y. We ’ r e e v e n looking at making a shor t viral f i l m a b o u t t h e b u s i n e ss a n d o u r vision to put Cooplands bakery back at the hear t of t h e c o m m u n i t y. End