Sunday, January 1, 2012

The New Year Is Here...so what you going to do about it?

From one day to the next, a day is a day, but what gives anything value, memory and worth are what we give to that moment in time. Today the first of 2012, yesterday the last of 2011. For River Wave Foods 2011 was a good year, progress has been made in our market presence; new stores , new customers, new recipes, but what is equally valuable is that in addition to all the new development, our growth in many cases has been based on going deeper into the markets that we have been in. This going deeper has been the marketing strategy that is clearly becoming the model that River Wave Foods growth and viability is based on. The temptation to broadcast out to markets north and south, east and even west is alluring and appealing, but with a small entrepreneurial company such as River Wave, broadcasting far and wide with no internal structure to move products once they are in new stores is surely the kiss of death. Local,local,local, is the mantra that we are hearing these days. But "local" is a word (like so many "buzz words")that is a relative term. Some define local as anything within a 100 mile radius of where you are, others think of it as a regional concept; ie Pacific Northwest, West Coast, West of the Rockies etc. For River Wave Foods local is an area that can be managed and tended to by a small staff of people that produce, deliver, demo and service our customers. What will ultimately grow our business is not a slick wide reaching marketing campaign but a down to dirt, grass level , word of mouth movement. Seeing David, River Wave Foods fabulous demo person, again and again in the stores that you shop and while you might have passed him 2 times without taking a sample, the third time you walk by him and he says "come on, give it a try" and you think "why not" and you discover the truly amazing, simple but intense flavors that wake up your taste buds and ask that you pay attention. This is real food your taste buds tell you....yum. So look for David as he works hard to share his enthusiasm for River Wave Foods products or when the farmer's markets roll around in May look for our booth and come by for a sample. On this first day of 2012 I am marking this moment as a point of reference so when 2013 arrives I can look back and see January 1, 2012, tagged with this journal entry, and see how far River Wave Foods has come and what I did about it.