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Case Study

How Data-Driven Innovation Brought a Deliciously Satisfying Solution to Market

Posted by on 20 April 2021
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Value that’s Everipe for the picking
Launching a brand in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space isn't a task for the faint-hearted. It's more saturated than almost any industry out there, and it's also monopolized by some well-known global giants. But when you understand the space – and you've got an idea that fills a very real customer need or pain point – you can rest a bit easier.

Everipe is a brand that falls into the latter category. The founders, Greg McMullen and Kerry Roberts, have both been in the grocery and CPG game for decades; Greg's family background running specialty grocery stores combined with Kerry's background in CPG marketing and consumer insights helped them feel uniquely equipped to take a shot at building this business.

Everipe is a growing startup that harnesses the power of freeze-dried technology to create delicious, nutrient-rich smoothies that are ready to slurp in 60 seconds flat. The brand exists for the consumer that wants a superfood smoothie waiting for them in the pantry, but without any of the icky stuff (think: preservatives or added sugar). It's also a product that's good for the world – it doesn't need to be refrigerated, and it generates significantly less waste than a typical fresh fruit smoothie routine might.

We sat down with Kerry to chat about where the idea behind Everipe came from: "Greg went on a real health kick a few years ago, and he started making smoothies every single morning. He did a ton of research and got really into it. At one point his pantry looked like Martha Stewart's – glass vials of labeled superfoods everywhere, and each smoothie became a 20-minute production." But Kerry notes that this wasn't practical in the long-term, so Greg switched to smoothies in powder form, but they just didn't satisfy. "It became purely functional eating, there was no joy."

That's when the wheels started turning: Was there a way to capture the sensory experience of real food with the convenience of powder? There had to be. Greg started working with a holistic nutritionist, a chef, and various food suppliers and found a new approach in the form of freeze-drying.

Growing a big dream from the ground up
With an innovative new smoothie concept under Greg's belt, Kerry entered stage left. When she joined Greg at Everipe, she immediately understood the gap in the market that this product would fill, given her CPG background. But she also got excited about the overarching vision for the company. "As it stands, a large percentage of fruits and vegetables produced end up in a landfill. And when I dream big – like really, really big – I think Everipe could help feed people that desperately need access to fresh, nutrient-rich food. We could take fruits and vegetables, freeze-dry them, and move them around the world."

Armed with an exciting proposition, Kerry needed a product portfolio, brand, and marketing strategy that would make investors and consumers alike take note.

Everipe's challenge
"We'd always heard that our concept was exciting, but we struggled to prove it out."

It's a problem that most marketers and insights professionals can relate to – the inherent difficulty of quantifying a concept's potential. This was the exact issue Kerry came up against at Everipe: "We were constantly working with the manufacturer and iterating on the product, and we were struggling to bridge that gap between the product, the wider vision, and the anecdotal feedback we'd get from people who sampled the product."

Because of her background in CPG, Kerry knew that they could solve this problem by conducting representative quantitative research. But being familiar with the typical research agency model also meant that Kerry was wary of the outputs and price tag – she didn't want to wait for ages to get data back or pay for data that couldn't actually help them bridge the gap between idea and marketing, or product and perception.

Dig's solution
To help Greg and Kerry get a sense of Everipe's in-market potential and benchmark their product against core competitors, we leveraged our innovation insights platform, Upsiide. Upsiide makes it easy to screen ideas and test concepts in whatever format they come – creative, messaging claims, food packaging, or logos.

Our team used Upsiide's swiping methodology to understand consumers' intuitive interest and initial commitment to the Everipe proposition, as compared with the propositions of their key competitors. We then ran a study that dove deep into the Everipe brand and product portfolio to understand how consumers felt about the brand and packaging – again, as compared with their competition.

Kerry and Greg found the insights valuable for two main reasons: 1) The findings allowed them to properly quantify the in-market appeal of their existing product suite. 2) It also gave both her and Greg a renewed confidence in their proposition. "The power of this particular methodology for us has been that we didn't have to trade off the quant sample – which gives us true data integrity – for the qualitative richness. I've never seen a methodology that doesn't make you choose between those two. Dig gave us the best of both worlds."

Kerry also spoke highly of the "efficiency of spend" that Dig's idea screening methodology afforded: "I know how dependable the data is that comes from a 'forced choice' study experience. If you're working with a limited insights budget, this methodology means you won't have to trade off on the integrity or sophistication of a larger quant survey."

Everipe's bright future
So, what will Kerry and Greg do with the insights that came from Dig Insights' work? In a few words: invest in the company's foundations and future.

"It was a pivotal moment for us to hear from a robust sample set – [the data shows that] we have a very powerful idea. So, we're now spending the dollars to bring a team of consultants in, solidify our brand and products, and scale production. I mean, talk about actionability out of insight! I'm not sure we would have had the confidence to invest without the clarity that Dig's study brought us."

The data hasn't just been useful for Everipe's founders, it has also been socialized across their partner agencies and new marketing agency, as well. "Thanks to Dig's work, we have a marketing partner on board that truly believes in our concept and proposition."

In the next two to five years, Kerry hopes to come back to Dig Insights for help leading their innovation pipeline and continue to optimize their brand and product portfolio. We can't wait to see where the brand goes.

Keen to test out Upsiide platform for yourself? Get in touch and we'll chat you through the future of innovation insights.

Want to try out Everipe's delicious smoothies, or follow their growth? Check them out online.

About the author: 

Meagan HealyMeagan Healey leads marketing & communications at Dig Insights. Prior to joining Dig, she spent her time building research technology brands like OnePulse and Attest. 

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