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Blog Post 21: The Future of The Herbery Co....
The future The Herbery Co. could go anywhere.
We are currently speaking to @Daz_seahoursecafe who has opened our eyes to the world of B2B and a wider range of produce.
The Future if the Herbery Co. could also lie in franchises across the county for reduced transport times.
And to reduce costs, and make as many pennies as possible, investing in a franking machine could reduce the most pricey element of our boxes: the postage stamps.
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Blog Post 20: Our Pivots (The Herbery Co. at the Beginning VS Now)
Throughout the process, we have learnt many things, and pivoted many times. The Herbery Co. has grown so much over the months of development, and seems worlds away from from our first thoughts, which were very restricting. We now have a more well rounded product that addresses the customers pain points, and looks beautiful. Phew!
Below outlines the main changes we made in order to make The Herbery Co. what it is today:
The additional boxes online and customisation:
Our Recipe Cards:
Potential Customer segment Pivot:
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Blog Post 19: Our Key Partners and Social Friends
Since establishing out instagram account, we have rapidly been growing a ‘budding’ Herbery community. With the help of our social friends: @needstreetfood @bigdaddyfoody and @whataleats, we have gain a lot of traction and begin to make sales.
To kick start the sales, we sent made up boxes to our social friends for reviews and shoutouts, which worked wonders. The most amazing things that came from this, was interest from a head chef for a cafe and catering company based in London called @daz_seahoursecafe, @pastaevangalist, and our first 5 sales. @Daz_seachouse expressed huge interest in The Herbery Co. as a main source of his herbs, which made us consider if B2B was a potential customer segment. He also requested a wider range of product, such as edible flowers and micro herbs, which has made us consider our herb portfolio and potentially expanding further.
As for our sales, we have 2 people purchasing 2 weeks worth of subscription of the basic and exotic box, and one customer purchasing a one off mystery box.
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Blog post 18: Our Final Product
To keep the service as convenient as possible for customers, the packaging needed to be considered a “large letters”; dimensions limited to 35.3 x 25 x 2.5cm (Post Office UK, 2019) to ensure it could be posted and not delivered.
To marry both practicality and our value proposition we discovered BD heat sealable plastic packaging; although this use increases the individual unit cost (insert information here), the perceived consumer value of entirely BD packaging outweighs this increase. This box is entirely biodegradable, from the plastic packaging, the cardboard boxes to the stickers. This was extremely important to ensure our value proposition of being sustainable was kept.
This researched informed our proposed MVP; iced bathing product, individual heat sealing the moistened product in BD plastic and BD stickers to keep product secure. To ensure the proposed MVP would preserve the herbs for the sustained time to reach our target demographic we sent three boxes to various London addresses. As product remained fresh after 48-hours in each package, these positive results finalised our MVP.
We also needed to implement a zoom out pivot on our product portfolio. Our hypotheses that “classic herbs” were to be the in demand herb of choice was not accurate. After some primary research into what types of herbs people would most desire, we demonstrated a Wizard of Oz MVP- by which we presented product variation of the additional “Exotic Herb Box” on our website to see if it gained traction. The results were a near split on interest between the 2. This forced us to widen out product portfolio and add an exotic box.
This box contains, Cornish Seaside Wild Garlic, Zesty Lemon Thyme, Rich Chocolate Mint and Bloomed Rosemary Flowers. This gives the consumer a chance to be more adventurous with their cooking and gives them the opportunity to purchase herbs definitely not found at their local supermarket.
From this zoom out pivot we also wanted to add a “whole box” where consumers could simply buy a whole box of their favourite herb; for we gained insights into consumers who knew they cooked with a particular herb a lot, and thus would only require a large box of a specific herb.
Being familiar with the Hook model, we wanted to implement some surprise element into our business model as excitement really provides a variable reward. We did this by adding a surprise “herb of the month” and also adding an entirely new “mystery box” product. Not only does this “hard-to-resist” reward keep customers coming back for more, it’s also a method to reduce wastage.
To further add value to our product, we wanted to add a recipe card in a box once a month. We will also be emailing each of our customers recipes at the beginning of each week on delivery of their box, inspiring them with different dishes or products that they can make from their herbs. This further zoom out pivot made our business more of a brand and not simply a product; these recipes cards, instagram content and tutorials all add value to our consumers who appreciate a business going above and beyond.
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Blog post 16: Getting Googleable
Because our business exists entirely online, it is important for us to be findable on Google. We therefore took our learnings from the Social Media module in second year and secondary research to focus on Search Engine Optimisation.
First, we added ourselves to Google as a business. This is the side panel you might check on Google to see if a shop is open.
Next, we started working on our key words. In order to show up higher on Google, we need to be seen using the terms people actually search for.
For example, people don’t search for ‘fresh herb subscription service’, they search ‘Fresh herb delivery’
Below, Hello Fresh have stuffed their description with key words like ‘fresh ingredients’ ‘recipes’ ‘easy way to cook’ ‘cook meals’. The word ‘delivery’ and variant ‘delivered’ appear four times!
Of course, we did the same for each of our key pages
Really, the things to include are
• Key value propositions (sustainability is big for us)
• The Herbery Co.
• Key phrases like ‘fresh herb’, ‘delivery’
We can take it further by having our link associated with bigger and more popular websites. For example, if our key partners posted a blog with ‘theherberyco.tk’, Google would rank us higher. If we were associated with a .ac.uk website, it would be even better ;)
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Blog post 17: Price 💸
We wanted to get a better idea of what people are willing to pay for subscription services. With this info, we can potentially start to determine how much people are willing to pay for our service.
We quickly learned that the fresh herb market is incredibly lean. So, we compared against sibling categories: tea, spice, and entire meal services.
What feels comfortable to pay?
It turns out people are willing to spend between £10 and £46 at the point of purchase. From 27p per cup of tea to £7 per meal for two.
Key Finding: if you average the costs, people are happy to spend <£20 per checkout.
How often until the subscription renews?
Most services either repeat weekly, monthly, or quarterly. These are all common time periods, but it’s interesting there’s no fortnightly subscription.
Is there opportunity in how often we ask people to ‘pay at a time’?
Observations
✅ Ingredients sold as ‘meals’, default being 3. What’s our? ✅ Each ‘meal’ makes 2 servings ✅ Every service has an introductory deal
- 50% off - $50 discount - Free tea infuser - Free spoon - Free tea-sac (to make loose leaf tea portable)
✅ All subscription services have a gift option - One spice delivery service shows ‘gift’ as default. Let’s test that.
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Blog post 15: Platform pivot, pivot, pivot
Instagram
From the start, we’ve been aware of Instagram as a potential channel to sell from. We like Instagram because it blends awareness, evaluation, purchase, and after-care into one platform. We could share great content, reply to a prospect’s query, they buy a tagged product, and then DM them to let them know their product has been shipped. All in one platform.
Almost.
We followed their steps: setup a business account, link to a Facebook page, add products. And then we discovered you actually can’t process payment via Instagram. Instagram only allows product tagging - which links to an external site. Regrettably, we were going to have to build an e-commerce site after all.
We discovered sites like Ecwid and Shopify: e-com platforms that play nicely with Instagram. Except, it was going to cost £15 per month, minimum. At that cost, we may as well create our own full featured website with store.
*PIVOT*
Wordpress + Woo Commerce
28% of websites run on Wordpress. It’s a free web builder that enables ultimate control over the design and execution of the site. Some of the team had used it before for their own business. None of us had built an e-com store, though *foreshadowing*
The plan: build an e-come site for free
1. Get free hosting (we found freehostingnoads.com to be best)
2. Get a free domain (we chose .tk)
3. Install Wordpress + a drag and drop builder + a free SSL certificate
4. Install Woo Commerce: add products, simple, done
5. Install Google Analytics so we can build, measure, learn
We did it. It was going swimmingly. Until Woo Commerce.
We instantly realised why Unlocking Potential winced when we mentioned it in our initial presentation. It’s enormously powerful, but we had drastically underestimated Woo’s complexity.
It would require so so so much setup, tens of hours of learning and development. Simple things like a confirmation email require connecting our Gmail servers to Woo Commerce. Woo Commerce was misbehaving with our custom theme, it looked pretty poor as is.
In time, we’d tackle this challenge. But for our MVP needs, this channel was not working.
In the spirit of Eric Rie’s ‘The Lean Startup’ (2011), we made the executive decision to have a word with ourselves, fail fast, and recover quickly.
*PIVOT*
Wix
We’d tried to avoid Wix from the start because of the (hidden 🐍🐍🐍) costs and lack of customisation. But, boy, was it a breath of fresh air.
In no time, we had an MVP site with products, branded colour scheme, selling points, and an embedded Instagram feed. We were able to transfer our .tk domain over, too.
On reflection, our big lesson is that customisation is great, but it is directly correlated with complexity. Wordpress is still the ‘better’ platform, but if the cost is not having a working site, it’s not worth it. Pivot.
Visit our site: https://www.theherberyco.tk/
Alternately, here’s a full page screenshot:
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Blog post 14: So how can we sell them?
We now have a brand, herbs, and packaging. How can we sell them? We see three clear options. Instagram, our own online store, and Amazon.
📷 INSTAGRAM
Instagram is story first. It offers a lightweight, un-fussy way to weave our products into posts and stories. Customers are able to either buy direct via Instagram, or be sent to our website.
✅ An organic way to tell stories about our brand, herbs, and use
✅ Easy to setup
✅ Free to sell
❌ Mobile only
❌ Less opportunity for AB testing
❓ Purchases may only be one-off, not auto-renewing
❓ Trust - do our audience feel comfortable buying via Instagram?
🌍 ONLINE
Having our own online store offers high customisation, a central hub, and rich opportunity to build, measure, and learn. We’d have control over the entire user journey, how we present products, and Google Analytics data to provide actionable insights.
✅ We know people are comfortable buying online
✅ More control over design and UX - we can apply the Hook Model
✅ Deeper insights into customer behaviour
❌ Higher upfront effort: we’d need a host, domain, SSL, and plugins
❌ We’d also have to build it
❌ We’ll have to invest time and effort into SEO
🛒 AMAZON
Our feedback from Unlocking Potential was to look into Amazon as a potential selling option. It actually seems like a great choice. Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Wholefoods and recent launch of Amazon Fresh is evidence of a new growth market. Literally, haha.
✅ Most people are familiar with Amazon
✅ Millions of customers use Amazon already
✅ Relatively easy to setup
❌ Amazon already sells herbs, but only to London
❌ If our product classifies as ‘grocery and beverages’, approval required
❌ Limited to 35 sales/month at £0.75 each. Over 35 sales: £25/month
💥 BONUS
Subscription boxes are in massive growth. There are websites out there that we could start selling our boxes through.
✅ Customers are open minded to subscription
✅ Potentially very easy to setup
❌ Costs aren’t clear yet
All of the above options seem worth pursuing and at this point there doesn’t seem to be a reason to not pursue all of them.
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Blog post 13: Recommendations on how to transport them
After our first box of herbs arrived in bad shape, we called Ian King, a horticulturist, who gave us advice on how to package them to be transported in the future.
Ian suggested the following:
The plants must be completely clean and free of bacteria, before they are packaged.
Once we have taken the cuttings and cleaned the plants in water, they should be put in an airtight blow up bag.
Ian suggested buying Nitrogen gas, to inflate the bag slightly so that the herbs are cushioned and protected from impact during their travels.
He also suggested hermetically sealing the bag, so that no air escapes and the moisture is kept inside the bag.
Nitrogen gas also prolongs the aging process of the herbs, so that they will stay fresher for longer and won’t turn yellow whilst being transported.
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Blog post 12: Delivery Packaging Testing
Testing Different Packaging and Delivery Options:
With our card board boxes, we needed to find the most suitable way to transport the herbs in order to stay as fresh as possible. We researched and came up with 4 different conditions under 2 different variables.
Condition 1: Non Ice Bath.
Variant 1: Kitchen roll, plastic bag.
Variant 2: Wax Paper wrapping.
Variant 3: Oasis, Wax Paper.
Variant 4: Wax Paper, Oasis, Plastic.
Condition 2: Ice Bath.
Variant 1: Kitchen roll, plastic bag.
Variant 2: Wax Paper wrapping.
Variant 3: Oasis, Wax Paper.
Variant 4: Plastic Bag.
Results from Non Ice Bath:
The non-ice bath condition left us really deflated. For some reason, even though we posted them both at the same, in the same post box, the non-ice bath condition came a day earlier. The results were lack lustre to say the least.
There was general wilting and browning of all conditions that were not sealed. The coriander suffered the most damages during this turbulent journey. The only condition that remained intact was the plastic wrapped parsley which remained upright and stoic.
Ice Bath Condition:
A day later, on arrival of the ice bath condition, as we opened the box and it was as if the cloud doth lift, and the sun shone on our hopes. All packaging variants were considerably better than the non-ice bath condition. This is because, once harvested, when you soak the herbs in ice-water, they absorb water from all cell walls and via osmosis, will stand strong for a longer period of time, knowing they are hydrated.
Of these variants, the one that reigned supreme was the herb simply placed in an air tight plastic bag. Amongst the jubilations of finding a way to transport the herbs that will keep them fresh, we pondered in worry on the plastic ridden environment we live in, and were saddened at the fact that we may have to use plastic for preservation. We are looking to research further into whether there are air tight plastic bags that are somewhat environmentally friendly… tension mounts.
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Blog post 11: The Logo Development and Prototype
This morning we set our selves the task of having our logo design complete by the end of the day (which we did achieve), but also got completely carried away and excited about The Herbery Co., that we prototyped the product and box. Although this may have been a little premature, it turns out having a prototype to show our potential audience will be a really useful thing to help them envisage what The Herbery Co. is all about.
So, starting with the logo design; we stalked through Pinterest collectively for hours, making mood boards of inspiration for The Herbery Co.’s logo. We knew we wanted to stay clear of the calligraphy, Etsy feel and focus more on a sophisticated, Scandinavian look with a wholesome twist. Keeping it as simple as possible, we searched for fonts and illustrations to work from.
We incorporated all our favourite designs, including: a square boarder rather than circle, and having the text interfering with the boarder, as appose to sitting alongside. This way, the imagery used and the text appear to have equal relevance, rather than the visual dominating. We also played around a lot with different illustrations and variations in detail.
Finalised Logo
When we finalised The Herbery Co.’s logo, we couldn’t contain our excitement… We were so eager to see how the logo would look on the box, and think what the finished product might look like. So, the crafting and herb hunt in the grounds of Falmouth uni begun, and our first prototype was born!
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Blog post 10: The Name Generation...
The name of our fresh herb subscription was a vital thing for us to get right; we wanted the name to really sell the essence of what our brand is all about. So, we really wanted to spend time and testing to get it just right.
We all came together for a long brainstorming session on ideas, and what we wanted the feel of the brand to be. We liked the idea of an urban feel, with a wholesome and organic twist, so our initial through was incorporating the word ‘hurban’ into the name (a mix of ‘urban’ and ‘herb’). We also loved the idea of including the word ‘rooftop’ into the name as this gave the brand a city-feel. It seemed fresh, contemporary, and on trend. The use of ‘Co.’ at the end of the names also gave a super professional and established feel to the brand, and made it feel a lot more sophisticated; so something we really wanted to include as the product is more of a luxury than a necessity.
The names:
· The Rooftop Herb Co.
· The Herbery (Co.)
· The Herb Vault
· The Herban Rooftop
· The Herban Chef
· The Herb Club
· The Urban Sprig
· Rooftop Herbery
· The Urban Herb
After accumulating a list of names, we wanted to test them to see how others responded, and what impressions the names gave. We made a list of all the names we had, and tallied up peoples favourites, at the same time as gathering feedback. This was so helpful, as we gathered loads of insights. It turns out that the words we loved gave the complete wrong impressions.
The responses:
1. The Rooftop Herb Co.(favored by 8 people, but the use of the word ‘rooftop’ brought about a lot of confusion as to the relevance of it. It also implied the herbs were inner-city grown and not giving the impression of fresh and organic).
2. The Herbery (Co.) (favored by 9 people, very wholesome and organic, botanical feel).
3. The Herb Vault (favored by 4, loved the secrecy of the ‘vault’).
4. The Herban Rooftop (favored by 5, really loved the combination of ‘urban’ and ‘herb’, but again, the influence of urban made the herbs seem inner-city grown).
5. The Herban Chef (favored by 7, but gave the impression that the subscription was for cooking whole meals, rather than just herbs).
6. The Herb Club (favored by 0, gave the illusion of a marijuana club).
7. The Urban Sprig (favored by 5, but soon realised it sounded like a crèche for small inner-city kids).
8. Rooftop Herbery (favored by 0, again there was confusion about the use of the word rooftop, and works less with the word ‘herbery’ as ‘herban’ at least implied an urban influence).
9. The Urban Herb (favored by 1, but use of the word ‘urban’ again).
It was clear after this that we had to cut out our beloved words: ‘rooftop’, ‘Herban’, and ‘Urban’. So, we then voted ourselves on the names leftover: The Herbery (Co.), The Herb Club, The Herb Vault. It was unanimous that ‘The Herbery’ with the ‘Co.’ was a winner, and the more we said the name out loud, the more we grew to love it. Finally, our herb subscription was christened, ‘The Herbery Co.’.
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Blog post 9: Our herb shopping expedition
Herbs that we bought:
Curly leaf Parsley
Curry Leaf
Coriander
Spearmint
Pansies
How to care for them:
Sunlight: All plants need a lot of sunlight.
Water: Plants need to be watered regularly, however the soil mustn’t be too soaked. Overwatering these herbs will kill them.
Temperature: All herbs should be kept above 14 degrees Celsius, unless the herbs are hybrid breeds that have been genetically modified to survive in colder temperatures.
Miscellaneous: If these herbs aren’t in direct sunlight, they will try and grow towards the sun, so their stems will become long and stick-like and foliage will remain scarce.
Transporting herbs: Majority of soft-leaf herbs need to be transported in airtight packaging or packaged so that water doesn’t evaporate and the plant is kept hydrated.
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Blog post 8: Looking Into Food Safety Regulations
Research into Food Safety
Due to the fact that we are sending herbs, there luckily aren’t that too many laws and regulations which would impact the conditions in which we can send the herbs. Due to temperate and oxygen exposure not affecting the safety of the ingestions of herbs.
Below are a list of regulations we have to abide by with the selling of food:
What labelling information should be provided to consumers with food?
General food labelling requirements are laid down in Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011. For prepacked food this includes:
Name of food – This is not the brand name but a description that accurately describes the food.
Ingredients – A list of ingredients in descending order by weight. Genetically modified food must be identified.
1. Allergens – Any foodstuff where any of these 14 allergens are present, the allergen must be clearly listed. It is particularly important for people who are allergic to certain foodstuffs, which could cause a serious reaction and potentially lead to death. Pre-packed food must emphasis this in the ingredients list for example by making these ingredients Bold. More detailed information and resources about the allergens and labelling can be found here: http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/allergy-guide
2. Quantity of Certain Ingredients – You also have to show the percentage of an ingredient if it is:
• highlighted by the labelling or a picture on a package, eg ‘extra cheese’
• mentioned in the name of the product, eg ‘cheese and onion pasty’
• normally connected with the name by the consumer, eg fruit in a summer pudding.
3. Quantity Information – You must put the net quantity in grams, kilograms, millilitres or litres. Further information can be found at gov.uk/guidance/food- information-to-consumers
4. Durability Indication – Either a ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date, whichever is appropriate according to the perishability and nature of the food.
Advice to businesses selling food online 3 December 2016
7.Storage Conditions – This ensures the food remains safe through the supply chain and the quality does not deteriorate.
8.Name and Address of the responsible Food Business Operator (usually the manufacturer, importer or brand owner).
9.Country of Origin – You will need to make clear the country of origin for beef, veal, fish and shellfish, wine, most fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, and poultry meat imported from outside the EU. Further information can be found on the Food Standards Agency.
10. Instructions for Use - Where it would be difficult to make appropriate use of the food in the absence of such instructions.
11. Alcoholic content –
12. Nutrition declaration – You must have nutrition labelling if:
• you make a nutrition or health claim
• you’ve added vitamins or minerals to the food 13. Batch or Lot Numbers – to aid traceability.
More information is provided here: https://www.gov.uk/food-labelling-and-packaging
All mandatory information such as name of food, list of ingredients, date of minimum durability etc, must be given in a language easily understood where the food is sold. Products marketed in the UK must provide mandatory information in English, although other languages such as Welsh can be used in addition to the Member State language. The name of food and allergens should be in Bold.
When selling online there is also a list of regulations we must abide by even before the point of sale: Please see list below.
Distance selling
You must provide certain information if you’re selling goods or services through digital TV, by mail order or by phone or text message. This is called distance selling.
If you don’t follow the rules you could be made to provide the goods or services as agreed, pay compensation or be given an unlimited fine or a prison sentence.
Before an order is placed
You must provide:
· your business name, contact details and address
· a description of your goods or services
· the price, including all taxes
· how a customer can pay
· delivery arrangements, costs and how long goods will take to arrive
· the minimum length of their contract and billing period
· conditions for ending contracts
· how they can cancel and when they lose the right to cancel
· if they will still need to pay reasonable costs for using a service after they cancel
· a standard cancellation form, if they can cancel
· conditions for money given as a deposit or financial guarantees
· what digital content does (for example, the language it’s in or how to update software)
· the cost of using phone lines or other communication to complete the contract where it will cost more than the basic rate
This information must be easy to understand and on paper, in an email or another format the customer can save for future reference.
Right to cancel
There are different rules for downloads and streaming services.
You must tell the customer they can cancel their order up to 14 days after their order is delivered. They don’t need to give a reason for cancelling.
If you don’t tell the customer about their right to cancel, they can cancel at any time in the next 12 months. If you tell them about the right to cancel during these 12 months, they have 14 days to cancel from when you told them.
After an order is placed
You must:
· provide a copy of the contract on paper, by email or another format the customer can save for future reference
· provide the copy of the contract no later than when the goods are delivered
· deliver the goods within 30 days, unless you’ve agreed otherwise with the customer
There are extra rules if you’re selling online or selling overseas.
Distance selling means any selling that happens without face-to-face contact with the consumer.
Methods of selling include:
online
text messaging
phone calls
interactive TV
mail order
Setting up
You need to register with your local council 28 days before opening. The environmental health department can also provide advice on compliance with food safety and food hygiene laws.
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Blog post 7: Initial Research into Differing Herbs and Best Storage Solutions
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Blog post 6: How/ where are people buying herbs online?
There are four places where people will go if they want to buy herbs online:
1) Food and ingredients subscription boxes
2) Garden centers with online website
3) General online shops (Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose Garden)
4) Instagram pages, mainly of small scale, private gardens.
(They often promote themselves in collaboration with other Instagram businesses such as other food boxes, Artisanal Oil brand, butchers, bakers)
______________________________________________________________________
1) List of subscription boxes in the UK
https://www.allsubscriptionboxes.co.uk/category/box/food/
One example of a popular food box is Hello Fresh.
Hello Fresh:
Offer and prices:
3 different types of ingredients boxes.
The classic box: 5 pounds/ meal delivered 3 times a week. For two people.
Stats from website:
3 000 employees aka hellofreshers
1 151 749 facebook likes
1 880 000 customers
+10 000 recipes created
16 million meals delivered / month
Packaging:
2) Garden centers with online websites:
https://grovesnurseries.co.uk/herbs
https://www.herbalhaven.com/shipping/
https://www.bakker.com/en-gb/fruit-and-veg/herbs
https://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/rosmarinus-officinalis-rosemary-bush?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-onjBRDSARIsAEZXcKZ_caIE8JIi5mJSrWf8TDxhNquge0j4wggbT7D5A4n8sqpyEjaKBIsaAhefEALw_wcB
3) General online shops
https://www.waitrosegarden.com/plants/_/herbs/plcid.23/
Waitrose Garden sells fresh herbs in pots, specifically for keeping and growing.
Sainsburys, Tesco and others sell either packaged freshly cut herbs online or potted herbs.
Herbs unlimited:
http://herbsunlimited.co.uk/buy-fresh-herbs-edible-flowers/
Traditional Herbs, Specialty herbs, edible flowers.
Order online and gets delivered by royal mail.
Buy Thai Ingredients online:
https://www.thai-food-online.co.uk/products/fresh-thai-sweet-basil?variant=17373405380697&utm_campaign=gs-2018-12-03&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-onjBRDSARIsAEZXcKYmr6yEvTv0c1PYSp47vX9fGgIiUFTIIvbsqEuu1pC3ld2q2zizIj8aArEEEALw_wcB
Buy interesting and authentic Thai Ingredients online and have them delivered.
They also sell some authentic Thai Herbs.
4) Instagram pages
Instagram handle: herbsunlimited2002
Company name: Herbs Unlimited
Observations: Collaborates with Born& Bred (artisan recipe boxes), Debby Addison (thebohobaker), a recipe book writer and renowned pastry chef, Artisan Oil company O-Med Extra Virgin Olive Oil (omedoil).
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Blog post 5: Assumed and Non-Assumed Customer Segment Research
As we have a list of assumptions about our customer segment that have been proven mostly true, it’s important to investigate other customer segments and see if their pains can be solved with our product too. This was carried out in the form of 3 sets of interviews and a survey. The participants ranged from a variety of different cooks, living in numerous places across the country, and from various occupations.
The different types of cooks that we researched into were:
1. The Keen Cook
2. The Wellness Cook
3. The Veggie/Vegan Cook
4. The Fitness Cook
5. The Occasion Cook
6. The Time Poor Cook
7. The Eat to Live Cook
8. The Learning Cook
9. The family Cook
THE INTERVIEWS:
The three interviews were conducted in person, from a combination of cooks living in rural and town areas. The cooks tested included: ‘The Keen Cook’, ‘The Family Cook’, ‘The Veggie/Vegan Cook’ and ‘The Time Poor Cook’.
Using ‘The Mom Test’ format (REF), we collectively came up with a set of questions to gain actionable insights from (REF):
1. How often do you find yourself throwing out dead herbs?
2. Tell me about the last time you were unable to find the fresh herbs you needed?
3. How big a factor is sustainability in your food purchases?
4. How important to you is organic vs normal?
5. Do you have any other subscription? Why? What? And what do you like/dislike about them?
6. How accessible are herbs in your area?
7. How often do you cook from scratch?
8. Where do you get your recipes from, and how complex are they?
9. How often do you food shop?
10. Do you meal plan?
11. How invested in you cooking are you? (Do you live to eat or eat to live?)
The individual scripts for the interviews are as follows:
Vanessa- aged 46. Stay at home mum, living in the countryside. Described as a ‘Keen Cook’ and a ‘Family Cook’:
1. I throw dead herbs out every time I buy them, and I buy them every time I go food shopping which is always weekly.
2. Occasionally I will pop into Morrison’s after dropping my son to school, and they never have the fresh herbs I want; but this isn’t my usual place to shop. I will usually shop at Tesco or Waitrose and they both have a good selection that��s always stocked.
3. Sustainability is not at the top of my list, but I do take more care now and will look at the packaging and where the food is from. However, if I need something that isn’t in season, I would still buy it despite the big air miles.
4. Again, not too important. I will always look for good quality, but it’s usually very overpriced. If I have better access to a farm shop I would buy from there, but it’s a pain to have to shop in two places.
5. Yes, I use Tails and Oodles dog food subscriptions, but have cancelled both as my dogs don’t like them. They were convenient and well-priced. I also buy Proactive for my son, but cancelled that too as they sent far too much too often, it would be better to choose the amount and replenish only what he ran out of. I did also briefly subscribe to a local milk and orange juice subscription that was promised to be a fully sustainable and plastic free alternative, but it turned out to be false, so cancelled.
6. Very, I have access to almost all big supermarkets and convenience stores.
7. I cook fresh every day.
8. Mostly I take inspiration from my own knowledge and eating out, but I do watch a lot of cooking shows and read a lot of books. For me they are not complex, but I guess for the average weekly meal, yes they would be.
9. I do a big shop weekly, but also have to top up a few times a week.
10. I do meal plan a lot before a big shop, but if there is an offer on a leg of lamb, or fillet of beef or something like that, then I will change.
11. 100% LIVE TO EAT!
Simon - aged 21. A Student living in a town. Described as a ‘Veggie/Vegan Cook’ and ‘Time Poor Cook’:
1. Very often, pretty much every time I buy them, which is usually weekly if I meal plan.
2. Never
3. Fairly high, but as a student I try to keep costs low.
4. Not very, I care more about the sustainability.
5. My subscriptions are to sport and entertainment platforms like: Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zwift. These are important bits of my life so I don’t mind spending the money, but they don’t cost too much.
6. Very, there are loads of supermarkets.
7. Every day and I enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t do it.
8. Usually something I’ve thought of, or if I want to try something new, BBC Good food and then if I see something on Instagram or Facebook that looks good I will save it. I also have a load of old Hello Fresh recipe cards that I reuse. I don’t go all out every night but I won’t shy away from something tricky, I like the challenge.
9. A couple of times a week, once a week if I meal plan but that’s rare now as I don’t have the time.
10. I try, and it’s good so I don’t have to keep going back to pick bits up.
11. Live to eat.
Angela- aged 72. Retired and lives in a marina near a town. Described as an ‘Occasion Cook’ and ‘Family Cook’:
1. A lot of the time if I buy a packet, but I will usually buy a plant if I need herbs and keep that alive for a while.
2. Oh I can’t remember, I can always find them, and usually have them on the patio.
3. I do try to cut down on plastic, but it’s hard sometimes.
4. I like to use what’s in season and what I have grown, but it’s harder to get the allotment now since my operation.
5. We just got Netflix and its fabulous! My husband also subscribes to wildlife and boat magazines and has a membership at the Yacht club and Shooting club. We have them due to our interests and Netflix because we got a new smart TV.
6. I cook mostly every day, sometimes we will reheat something if its leftover and sometimes have little snacky bits like quiche and falafel. Although sometimes my daughter and husband come over so I will cook a meal when they come and I like to cook more complex meals for friend and dinner parties which I probably do once a week.
7. Yes, I do enjoy cooking, I love baking and homely food.
8. Oh, my cook books and maybe the TV sometimes, and the Waitrose magazine.
9. I usually get a few days’ worth of things in at a time.
10. Yes, I do try to, but sometimes can’t be bothered, I will get what I fancy when I’m there. But yes, if I’m having friends over or the family.
11. Live to Eat.
THE SURVEY:
The survey was completed by 66 people, and put out on various platforms on the internet. It went on Reddit and other social platforms, and was emailed to various companies we have connections with.
The main results are as follows:
1. Most of the cooks that participated described themselves as: ‘Time Poor Cook’, ‘Fitness Cook’, ‘Eat to Live Cook’, ‘Learning Cook’.
2. Cooking is enjoyed, but not much knowledge and care in it, within younger demographics.
3. Middle aged cooks, tend to stick to what they know and do look for fresh produce at convenient prices. Also, meal prep to save time.
4. Health conscious cook’s meal prep and are very conscious of nutritional value so spend a lot of time looking at ingredients. Due to this being the priory, sustainability isn’t key.
EXAMPLE OF RESPONSES:
5. Only 7.4% use fresh herbs daily, with the biggest percentage using them every few days.
6. Herbs are accessible for most, but they a lot of the participants stated they don’t buy them fresh as they are expensive and they don’t think they improve a meal. Middle aged to older people said they liked to grow them and have the available at their homes.
7. 50% of participants shop weekly with only 7.7% shopping daily.
8. Sustainability is not that important in purchases.
9. Most subscriptions bought by the participants are for Netflix and Amazon, but 30% were not subscribed to anything. Convenience was the main reason for subscription purchases.
10. Participants who didn’t have subscriptions said they were overpriced and you still have to pay even if you don’t want more of something or need more.
11. Almost 30% said herbs were very accessible, but a large quantity of participants weren’t even looking for them so didn’t know.
12. All participants but 1 said they use only basic herbs as they aren’t too experimental with cooking. However, 12% of participants do wish supermarkets had a wider variety of herbs.
13. The last question on the survey asked for advice and feedback on a fresh herb subscription, all participants but 4 were not bothered about the subscription, but there was mention of making small portions so they don’t go off quickly.
The actionable insights gained from this research were slight, as the majority of participants either didn’t use herbs enough, or have wide enough access to them. The customer segments tested were also not too conscious about the sustainability element, but did agree that the waste caused by the herbs was frustrating. It seems that there may be a few who like they idea and for the ‘Time-Poor’ cooks it could have some merit, but the consensus was that there is no demand for a repeat fresh herb subscription within these customer segments. It would not be viable enough to use any of these audiences as a customer segment.
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