Why our Protein Banana Bread is Limited Edition?

Why our Protein Banana Bread is Limited Edition and why we’ll be releasing more Limited Edition products in the future? Heya, So the reaction so far is that you love our new Protein Banana Bread. Awesome!! We have received lots of questions about why it is Limited Edition. Some people are curious, other people think we’re trying to drum up demand artificially, and others don’t get the rational behind it at all. Fair call. I don’t think we have done a good enough job explaining ourselves around this point. Let me talk you through why we launched the Protein Banana Bread as a Limited Edition and why we’ll be releasing a lot more of these type of products in the future. It’s like we’re opening up the door to our thinking as a business and welcoming you to be a part of it. If you have tried and love the product, please give your feedback. The whole purpose of this exercise is to see if this becomes a part of our ongoing range or not :)

Why have we launched Protein Banana Bread as a Limited Edition run?

When we launch a new product, we have made the decision as a business to test the product out with our online community. This is before we commit to anything further including a large scale print run of packaging, different packaging for retail and a proper retail launch. As the first flavoured product we have launched, we also need to ensure that the Protein Banana Bread is exactly what you guys are wanting. So effectively, we are creating an experiment with a new product. Just like high school science but only cooler :) I know this is highly unusual for a food manufacturing business to take this approach (we never have been conventional, our awesome products being a case in point) but there are many businesses we admire that do a lot of testing to give and create value for their community.

The three questions we have:

1. Is the nutrition profile or macros what our community wants and needs?
2. Is the taste and texture what our community enjoys?
3. Does our community love this product and does it create value for them?

We’re taking on all the feedback from our community to see whether this product hits the mark and is something you actually want.

What does this mean for you, as part of our community?

The Nutrition Profile - Macros

When we create products of which most would fit into a keto diet (by the way I’m in keto at the moment and feeling amazing), there is a risk for us in creating a new product that has higher carbs than anything else we’ve created to date. Yes, it has 77% less carbs than a regular Banana Bread but that still equals nearly 10 g of carbs. You see, everything from a business perspective has a risk associated with it. We really want you guys to love this new product with the higher (but still massively lower) carbs but as we expand our product range, we need to test what you are or aren’t comfortable with. By creating a Limited Edition product, we get the chance to get that feedback from you with an actual product. Yes, we actually want your feedback and want to hear from you. We don’t have all the answers and recognise that to support you our community, we need to be humble in the way we listen to, and talk with you. You may ask why don’t we get this feedback in advance. Believe it or not, sometimes what people say and what they actually do are completely separate things. And by testing this in a scientific way, we can then go back to our innovation team with concrete answers to the many nutrition questions they have. And, why would we want to give out all of our plans to everyone else :)

Taste and Texture

Protein Banana Bread is the first product we have launched with spices and natural flavours in it. While I love Banana bread and so does the team, we get excited really easy and can sometimes fall trap of being in an echo chamber of talking about low carb and the foods we eat and love. This can also be the same with new product development and even though we try it out with many people (yes, everyone loves to be a part of the taste testing panel), what really matters is what you and the community love and value. So the best way is to test. Taste and texture can be extremely subjective so that’s why we want feedback. And if neither taste or texture or to anyone’s liking, we can put a stop on the product (it is Limited Edition after all), go back to the drawing board and start again. One thing we have learnt as a couple of guys giving business a red hot go is that we don’t have all the answers and we don’t pretend that we do either...

Do you Love it?

If you love this product and it creates value for you, let us know... This is all about you and if you love Protein Banana Bread and that is the feedback we receive, we can then add it to our existing range of products as permanent addition :)

For our Retailers and Distributors - a Different Perspective

Taking on new products is a risk for anyone, especially our retail and distribution partners. The biggest concern they have is whether this product will move off their shelves and whether they are making a $ return per the available shelf space. If you shop in supermarkets, you will often see clearance stickers as products disappear into the neverland of the product museum. Yes it happens and happens all the time. Both to small businesses and large businesses alike (look at Coke with Coke Life and now with their Coke No Sugar products). It is a very competitive space as many products are targeting the same group of consumers. Everytime a new product is launched, there is a risk associated with it. All the market research and feedback can only get you so far. What really matters is that customers will actually purchase these products. By creating experiments with our online community and testing the viability of a new product or product range, we can then share with our retailers and distribution partners only products that we know have proven consumer demand and a market for. This helps build trust with our partners who know that:

• • Consumers love the products we provide to them

• • There is a market for our products in their store

• We can support them in the best way possible which is about supporting their sustainability as a business

So what does all this mean for you?

Limited Edition means that If the product isn’t right for you as part of our community, then we have the opportunity to stop it and start again. As a business, we will be creating more experiments to ensure we have the right products for our community and to also support our retail and distribution partners It doesn’t mean we always get things right, but we’re trying our best to build a sustainable food business that creates and manufactures the types of food we love and want to eat everyday. Aaron, CEO