Flavors as a marketing tool

Flavors have been widely used in animal nutrition for many years, feed producers benefit from their properties to increase performance parameters. With an attractive smell the feeds are more appealing, increasing the intake and therefore the production. Not only that, flavors allow the introduction of new formulations or the use of ingredients with unpleasant smells limiting the impact on intake. However, is that the only use of flavors? Most certainly not. Different clients imply different needs and flavors are also an excellent marketing tool for feed producers. The marketing aspects of flavors could be classified in three different categories.

Customer acceptance: like with any other subjective matter, emotions play an important role. A satisfying smell will encourage a customer to take a decision due to sensory perception. Flavors are also strongly linked to cultural aspects and trends; the same flavor might have different customer response depending on the geographic area.

Product branding: one of the easiest ways to differentiate effectively a product from another is through the smell of the feed. Furthermore, flavors ensure a constant and homogeneous feed (or premix) perception from the client, which creates confidence. In some occasions using a flavor of an ingredient perceived as expensive will help producers to justify the cost of a premium line of feeds.

Territory delimitation: by identifying a product with a particular flavor it is possible to make customers from a commercial area relate that smell to the product. Moreover, exclusive smells linked to a product will make it easily identifiable and hardly replaceable by competitors if the customer is satisfied with it, obtaining their loyalty. In some occasions is quite the opposite, using the same flavor than a leading competitor may be the entrance to some markets.

Summarizing, it is vital not to forget the marketing potential that flavors have in the animal nutrition sector. Customers not only should know that feeds are of high quality, they need to perceive it too