![]() Just by taking a whiff of the jar, I knew why. She loves it so much that she's requested multiple bottles to bring home and share with her friends. Nothing-and I mean nothing-has ever impressed my mom as much as Fly By Jing's Sichuan Chili Crisp. To buy: Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp, $15 at She's been visiting me over the last few weeks, and our meals together have all started and ended with this incredible jar of explosive flavors. Little did I expect her to be bowled over by how well it smells and tastes with a wide-eyed "oh, wow." It's now the first thing she reaches for when cooking and the last thing she wants to put back in the fridge. So when I opened Fly By Jing's Sichuan Chili Crisp, which I've long heard great things about, I fully expected her to only nod in polite appreciation. Yet if you asked my mom, who commandeered the kitchen (and therefore the fridge), there was always a spot reserved for one essential condiment: chili crisp.Įveryone in my family had their preferred style of chili crisp, and my mom always kept her dearest jar from our local Hakka restaurant away from the sneaky hands of my siblings. In with the stock pot of beef noodle soup, out with the gai lan for lunch in with the plastic bags of peaches and Yuhebao lychees, out with the Aiwen mangoes and watermelons for after-dinner desserts. Feeding a family of six, it was constantly changing. “Hopefully we can show retailers that we can sell well alongside other hot sauce brands.The best way I could describe my Taiwanese family's fridge growing up was like a revolving door. Going forward, the plan is to highlight Fly by Jing’s sales performance among other mainstream brands. Gao said this is creating more leverage for her to ask other retailers to do the same. Target’s buyer did agree to merchandise Fly by Jing in the hot sauce aisle. But being categorized within the ethnic grocery offerings has been another pain point for Fly by Jing.įor example, Fly by Jing has struggled to convince some of its retail partners to place its sauces in the hot sauce aisle - where, she said, foot traffic is often about 4X bigger than the international aisle. On the plus side, retailers also offer the ability to organize sampling sessions – helping create a touchpoint to educate customers on Fly by Jing’s Chinese flavors. Another example is Fly by Jing’s bright orange Costco pallet display, which features educational information about its two-jar Sichuan chili crisp bundle. For instance, being able to create a colorful endcap at a grocery store’s ethnic aisle. This isn’t always easy to do within crowded grocery stores, especially as a brand specializing in high-end Asian products.įor Fly by Jing, asking for flexibility on how to merchandise its products is key to grabbing offline customers’ attention. “On DTC, we really try to show our customers what the product is,” Gao said. “I never thought we’d go into Costco so early,” Gao said.īut with wholesale growth comes the added challenge of creating effective storytelling on a busy shelf, alongside other brands. ![]() The first test run in the Los Angeles market, which began in February, doubled projected sales. For instance, Gao and Fly by Jing were featured as part of Target’s recent Lunar New Year marketing campaign.Īnother mainstream retailer that Fly by Jing recently entered was Costco, which requires offering discounting or product bundling. Gao said the decision to add Target to the company’s roster of distributors is a testament to the company’s attention to DTC brands, and Target’s mission to diversify their grocery offerings. The next retailer came shortly after, with Fly By Jing launching in 100 Target stores spread across the country in early 2022. “Very quickly, the velocities were so strong that we went global,” which encapsulates the entire U.S. The company’s first national retailer was Whole Foods - starting with the mid-Atlantic regions - where it launched at the end of 2021. “I don’t mind it because the velocity is insane.” Eventually Fly by Jing began selling through B-to-B marketplace Faire, which is geared towards small businesses. ![]() This was especially the case when the jars sold out due to its emergent cult status, she said. Sometimes Fly by Jing products are even marked up by these small retailers, Gao said. ![]() However, the brand’s physical retail journey began in small specialty shops – “when a store reached out we’d send them a couple of cases,” Gao said. The company launched on Amazon about a year ago, which began as a test, “and ended up doing really well,” said Gao. The first non-DTC channel Fly by Jing went into was Amazon, which helped expose the brand to convenience-minded shoppers. “I always knew that eventually we’d be in retail but in 2019, I thought DTC would be the only channel for a while,” Gao explained. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |