Campaign for NatuChips - all-natural chips made from Brazilian Roots

This is our TV campaign for NatuChips - a line of all-natural chips made from Brazilian roots: Mandioquinha (arracacha in English) and Inhame (taro).

The copy reinforces naturalness and freshness with a touch of humor. It actually takes between 12-36 hours from the moment these roots are harvested and are produced at our plant in Sete Lagoas (state of Minas Gerais).

NatuChips also follows a global trend towards clean labels. In our case, just three ingredients: roots, palm oil and salt.

Creative by AlmapBBDO.

NatuChips - made from Brazilian roots

In a few days an exciting new snack concept we have been developing for the past year will hit the shelves all over Brazil: NatuChips.

There has been a growing interest among Brazilians consumers for products that celebrate local food staples. The growth of açai, coconut water or guaraná-enhanced energy drinks are examples of how Brazilian are re-discovering local tastes... from fruits to roots.

NatuChips is a great way for Brazilians to try something completely different in terms of snacking... different, but very close to their food culture. NatuChips comes in two great-tasting options: Inhame chips (known in English as taro) and Mandioquinha chips (known as arrancacha). We're very excited with this launch.

Try them out and drop me a line with your thoughts.

Where do you go to ideate?

Later this month we will be putting together a 2-day innovation workshop. The planning phase has been incredible, from establishing clear objectives of the territories and cultural correlations we will be ideating against, to finding the right moderator, to debating on the stimulus we will be using, to confirming the final list of some extraordinary people with a variety of different backgrounds who will be helping out in our collaborative effort. We found a fantastic location here in São Paulo called Casa do Saber (the house of knowledge) - a trendy space with an awesome calendar of short-term courses in areas such as philosophy, arts, geopolitics or literature. We went there last week to check it out and we couldn't have found a more inspiring place to hold our innovation session. A perfect lounge-type setting that seems to be just right to spark the type of discussion we want to have on what's next.

Tom Kelly from IDEO, mentioned in his book 'The Ten Faces of Innovation' the importance of finding an ideal space outside of the office to listen, think, discuss, ideate.  I couldn't agree more. 

Where do you go to ideate?

 

Cupuaçú... will that be one or two scoops?

I'm always looking for what's new in the world of ice creams. So, I was very happy to find out that there's a place here in Sao Paulo selling Cairu®, the famous ice cream brand from Belem (the well-known port that serves as a gateway to the Amazon Forest).  It was worth the visit. Absolutely amazing.   Cairu is all about authenticity showcasing wonderful ice creams using local fruits, from the already popular açaí (known for its antioxidant properties and one of the few local fruits, like the guaraná, known abroad), to the more exotic acerola, murici, cupuaçú or taperebá.  

If you type in 'ice cream' at Wikipedia you see references from all over the world, from Italy's unique gelati texture, to the heladerias of Argentina and Uruguay with the superb dulce-de-leches or American ice creams rich in cream and amazing inclusions. Not surprising that there is no reference to a typical Brazilian-style ice cream. I think it's a matter of time for the world to discover some of the fruits from the Amazon.... and you never know, maybe one day, Cairu Ice Creams will no longer be a well-kept secret.  

I found this great photo of the acerola berry at Flickr posted by photographer Marco...

A Cultural Movement Celebrating Brazilian Bar Food

Saturday night I had dinner with Eduardo Maya and Eulália Araujo, the visionary founders of an annual culinary contest to find the very best Brazilian bar food, called Comida di Buteco.  What started off as a culinary contest 9 years ago is now an amazing cultural movement celebrating Brazil's botequims - the popular name for the authentic Brazilian pub - and the colorful food served with beer or cachaça. If Spain has the tapas, Brazil has the petiscos or tira-gostos as they are called.  It all started in Belo Horizonte, a city known as the bar capital of the country and is now spreading to other cities.

Eduardo Maya is a charismatic guy and an enthusiastic advocate for elevating Brazilian bar gastronomy - often considered low cuisine - to the respectful place it deserves in the country's food culture.  He also talks passionately about how this movement has exponentially improved the lives of dozens of families who own these bars and given them a sense of affiliation beyond what he had initially envisioned.

To give of an idea of how popular this movement is becoming, in the 2007 edition, 130,000 people voted for their favorite petiscos in 40 selected bars and the final event, which closes off the month-long Comida di Buteco, gathered over 500,000 people in a week-end of music and the best Brazilian bar food.  It ends with an awards ceremony.

Click here to read an article that ran on The New York Times on the Comida di Buteco movement.

Another great example of how certain cultural movements have the powerful force of mobilizing people behind a cause. 

Creating a New Consumption Occasion with the help of Pizza Hut

Despite record growth we have been having with our Doritos® business here in Brazil, one of the challenges we face is that Brazilians don't have the habit of dipping tortilla tips in salsas like in the U.S. or Mexico. How do you start developing a new consumption occasion that simply isn't part of the local food culture? One of the ways of doing it is to partner with someone who can give you a hand. In our case here in Brazil, Pizza Hut®. Our Doritos Brand Mgr. Alexandre Chiavegatti worked with Pizza Hut to put the Doritos Nacho experience on the menu. We're extremely happy with the partnership since Pizza Hut is a cool venue for the urban teen and young adult demographic which now can be exposed to the Doritos® brand in a completely new way. It was launched last December and so far it has been working very well.

Argentine Steak House or Brazilian Churrascaria?

Anyone who has been to charming Buenos Aires knows that the Argentines prepare the best beef you can find anywhere on the planet. The most tender cuts, loads of gaucho tradition, and a wonderful meal with fabulous Malbec wines. Is this the ultimate meat you can find? Well, fly north to Brazil and there's another meat experience that deserves attention... the 'Brazilian Churrascaria' or also called 'Rodizios'. What I love about the churrascaria is the ritual behind it. First, you go to the salad bar, which are usually loaded with options. Then, at the table, you have a chip green on one side and red on the other, used to indicate to the waiters if you're ready to be served. The waiters, normally dressed in full Brazilian gaucho attire, come to your table with a skewer on which are speared various kinds of meat. You just have to confirm if you want a slice or you'd rather wait for the next round. No menus... no anxiety having to make the right menu choice.

A few weeks ago, we had the visit of an Irish marketing VP who lives in NY. In the evening, I gave him a few dining choices, specially since São Paulo has such a vibrant restaurant scene. Fogo de Chão® - Brazil's most successful churrascaria chain and operating in many cities across the U.S. - was his choice. The guy simply loved the experience.

Ok, Argentine beef may be the best... but when it comes to delivering an innovative steak house experience, nothing beats the churrascaria. And again, I just love rituals.

More on Cachaça...

Coincidentally, an article came out three days ago in BusinessWeeek.com on how cachaça may become the next tequila. Click here to read the article.

The Local Food Movement

The local food movement is emerging as the one of the hottest trends. It seems like everywhere you look there are books, articles and TV programs on how cool local food has become (not to mention the smaller carbon footprint and positive impact on the environment). I enjoyed the definition of the local food movement on Wikipedia: "Collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place and is considered to be a part of the broader sustainability movement." On the other hand, searching the Web, I found an interesting comment from Tom Tomich, director of the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, saying that a food item that is local doesn’t necessarily mean that it is better, environmentally speaking. The distance that food travels from farm to plate is certainly important, he says, but so is how food is packaged, how it is grown, how it is processed and how it is transported to market.

In Brazil, the 'feira de rua' (the equivalent to a farmers' market set up on a specific street in every neighborhood once a week) is an institution that embodies the local food movement. The experience is not only about the food. Walking through a feira is a colorful, flavorful and very sociable experience for Brazilian gatekeepers since stall owners are the ultimate salespeople using amazing communication skills to sell their produce (some even resorting to poetry and song).

Here in São Paulo, there's an even larger temple of local food and it's called the Mercado Municipal - a beautiful building built in 1932 with 12,600 m2 of the very best of Brazilian food. If you're looking for a Brazilian local food experience, you can't miss it.

Celebrating Brazil's Cachaça... here's to 2008!

Another interesting book I recently read is "Cachaça - O Mais Brasileiro dos Prazeres ('the most Brazilian Pleasure')" written by Jairo Martins da Silva, probably the most-knowledgeable guy there is on the subject.
The theme has always fascinated me because I believe there are few products that incorporate the Brazilian spirit like cachaça and 'caipirinhas' - the wonderful cocktail indelibly associated to cachaça - that tastes like a hot summer evening on Ipanema Beach (just as much as a Pisco Sour transports me to Lima or a Mojito to Miami).

Jairo Silva is a gifted storyteller. His book takes you on a journey from the historic roots of sugar-cane processing during colonial days to the influence of cachaça in Brazilian folclore, music and popular literature.  

The question is... why hasn't cachaça become a global alcoholic staple like vodka, whisky, (or the more Latin) rum or tequila?

Traditional brands like Pitú®, Ypióca®, Velho Barreiro® or Cachaça 51® have been exporting to Europe, North America and Japan for many years. And it has been interesting to see new brands starting off with a global mindset, like Sagatiba®, Leblon® or Cabana®.  I was thrilled to see at the ANUGA showcase in Germany, the presence of a great local brand I admire called Armazem Viera® from hip Florianópolis and newcomer Gabriela® - an organic cachaça from Ribeirão Preto. Lots of excitement in the category but we'll have to wait and see how much these initiatives will help increase cachaça's profile on a global scale. 

Meanwhile, as Brazilians would say... 'Saúde in 2008!'.

When is Zagat™ coming to São Paulo?

When my wife and I lived in New York, it was a ritual to check out Zagat™ before going out to a restaurant. Zagat™ is a wonderful example of how the power of collective wisdom is better than any individual critic, since the restaurant reviews are based on the opinions of thousands of people like you and I that submit their personal experiences. After, a year living in São Paulo, a true gourmet paradise, I see a huge opportunity for a guide like Zagat™. The 'paulistas' are very proud on how cosmopolitan the restaurant scene is here from the most-authentic churrascarias to die-for sushi bars to the local botecos (Brazilian-type bars for draft beer and 'caipirinhas'). Leveraging on this insight, local beer brand Bohemia® does a a great job promoting an annual competition for people to vote for their favorite 'botecos' e terms of food and service. People here love to talk about and recommend a new hot spot or a hole-in-a-wall with the best 'pão de queijo', which makes me believe the guide would certainly have a following.

Sabores da Terra®... Finally a Snack with the Authentic Taste of Brazilian Roots

One of the innovations that we're launching this year that I'm most proud of is Elma Chips Sabores da Terra® . For those who haven't seen it in the market yet, Sabores da Terra® is a line of snacks made from natural authentic Brazilian roots: mandioca (yucca) and inhame (taro). These roots are an integral part of Brazilian food culture. People around the country serve yucca and taro as an appetizer or as a side dish. The problem is that preparation is very time consuming. For the first time ever, Brazilian consumers can experience these popular roots in a convenient snack format.

We consider Sabores da Terra® to be a Blue Ocean-type innovation. For over thirty years we have been selling potato chips (an American classic) and for the past 12 years corn tortillas (a Tex-Mex classic) and we simply overlooked typically Brazilian roots as a way to increase the emotional connection to the Brazilian snacker. The macrosnack market in this country is overcrowded with extruded snacks, peanuts, popcorn, crackers, potato chips and tortillas. There was a clear untapped opportunity to bring some Brazilian DNA to the snacking experience. Adding to that, our research was showing that, more than ever, consumers value convenient foods and snacks with natural properties: unadulterated flavors, irregular formats, imperfections and low processing... that's what Sabores da Terra® delivers... the authentic taste of Brazilian roots. We were careful to label the packaging considering Brazil's regional differences. 'Mandioca' is the most common word in Portuguese for yucca, but we also used the word 'aipim' (used in Rio) and 'macaxeira' (the term used in the Northeast).

This innovation was led by an amazing professional, our Marketing Mgr. Adults Snacking Renata Figueiredo, a talent with a tremendous amount of passion and commitment, and her team Carol Oliveira, Carol Gormezano and Tiago Alencar.

AlmapBBDO did a wonderful job in creating a 30" TV campaign that captures the 'gostinho do campo' (the feeling you get when you're in the countryside). Film produced by Zeppelin Filmes.