So this week was the Fancy Food Show in the Jacob Javitz Center in NYC and  after the blur of cheeses, wines, chips, bars, chocolate, it was hard for me to find a stand out product especially after tasting nearly everything I walked by (for the entire three days) until I left satiated and at least 2 pounds heavier. 

 

It got me to thinking, how does a consumer feel when walking or surfing through the aisle at Shop Rite or Whole Foods or Amazon or anywhere for that matter?  What the heck should they buy and WHY should they buy it?  We know that unless you're P&G, Kraft or Unilever, it's hard to break through all that clutter unless you have one very SUPER product.  And most of us smaller (but far more delicious brands) don't have .001% of the budgets required to get awareness we need.  But I did find one such product that DOES differentiate in an extremely crowded category: Carazonas Chips and Oatmeal Square (bars.)  I was quite skeptical at first because they claim that they are proven to "Help Lower Cholesterol", but after tasting the product felt not only did they have a good flavor but a fantastic hook.  Here's a product that actually HELPS my diet. Considering that obesity in the US is at a whopping 33%, this truly is a product who's time has come.  Except that I'd never heard of it until the show.  So I took a look at their site and saw it was built in flash (not great for SEO--when I googled their name, it did not come up until I added Freedom to Snack) and no store (well I guess businesses ARE built on Amazon-- just not a great user experience) and in terms of social?  Not too much going on their.  A few tweets, (145 followers), Facebook (900+ Fans), but still hoping that this product the news, PR and sales that I think (and hope!) it deserves!