Milling & Baking News - March 9, 2004 - 22

SNACK CAKES product perspective SNACK CAKES product perspective

ing category; it's almost like swimming
upstream."
In addition, he reiterated Mr. Melchiorre's criticism that the relatively empty
new-product pipeline throughout the entire
cake and pie category in recent years has
stunted sales growth.

New brands for distinct markets
For its part, Flowers Foods, Inc. is trying
to change that.
In October, the Thomasville, Ga.based company unveiled Tesoritos snack
cakes through its nationwide Flowers'
Specialty Group wholesale distribution
network, the same network through which
it ships Mrs. Freshley's snack cakes.
The same month, it also introduced Pan
Dulce de Mi Casa snack cakes, distributed
through Flowers Bakeries' direct-store delivery network in the southern U.S. The
company also ships its BlueBird brand
snack cakes in that system.
Both of the new brands, aimed at
Hispanic customers, complement the
company's cake offerings in its traditional
southern U.S. markets - where sales representatives had asked company executives to come up with a Hispanic-oriented
product, said Cindy Lawson, director of
snacks marketing with Flowers' Specialty
Group.
In Spanish, Tesoritos means "little treasures," while Pan Dulce de Mi Casa translates to "sweet bread from my house."
"We've known for several years that
this was an area we needed to get into,"
Ms. Lawson said. "We did extensive consumer research and developed a product
line that would appeal to the Hispanic
palate."
It resulted in the largest snack cake launch
in Flowers' history, with each new Hispanic
brand encompassing 13 items ranging from

22 / Milling & Baking News, March 9, 2004

Tastykake's new packaging.

donuts to pound cakes.
"We're getting great acceptance from the
grocery community," Ms. Lawson said.
Dollar sales of Mrs. Freshley's cakes,
though, fell 9.2% in the 52-week period
ended Dec. 7, with unit sales down 32%. By
comparison, BlueBird's snack cake dollar
sales rose 13%, with unit sales up 3.8%.
Those I.R.I. measurements don't reflect
sales in certain vending, convenience
and mass merchandising channels that
compose a large portion of the company's
snack cake sales. Still, Ms. Lawson said
the decline at Mrs. Freshley's came after
a strategic decision to raise the price on
its four for $1 grab-a-snack trial sizes to
35c apiece.
"We simply didn't get consumer response," she said.
In snack pies, though, a "total product
restage" helped boost dollar sales 22.1% for
Mrs. Freshley's, with unit sales up 6.2%. Ms.
Lawson said the company is considering
moving more of its cake and pie products
to the Mrs. Freshley's line because of its

nationwide distribution.
Already late last year, the company
began shipping four key Mrs. Freshley's
items to a large national retail chain with
which it had an existing bread-supply
relationship.
"That's really going to help us grow our
brand," she said.
In addition, 20% to 25% of the
company's snack cake and pie business
consists of supplying private-label marketers. Private-label sales now lead all
brand marketers of snack pies and all but
two marketers (Little Debbie and Hostess)
of snack cakes.
As for possible new products Flowers
might try, Ms. Lawson suspects that sugarfree cakes and pies represent future market
opportunities, noting that her job basically
entails no less than identifying "the next
generation of comfort foods."
But she doesn't let that distract her from
the company's leading marketing mission
for snack cakes and pies.
"To me, the most important thing is delivering product quality," she said. "That's our
No. 1 goal. If we can get into the mouths of
consumers, we have won the battle."
Tasty Baking's Mr. Melchiorre knows that
all too well. That's why Tasty added 50%
more creme to its cupcakes beginning in
late January.
"Our No. 1 complaint was on cupcakes," he said, referring to product responses from consumers. "You'll see a lot
of focus on the cake side in '04 from us.
The biggest thing we want to do is bring
innovation."
This month, the company will add two
new permanent varieties to its Kandy
Kakes line. Already, Peanut Butter Kandy
Kakes, about two-thirds the size of a
hockey puck, represent Tasty Baking's
best-selling product. Raspberry and Bos-

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