Define

• Case Studies:

• Olive Oil and Parma Ham - Area Group

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• "Since our end clients are very demanding, we ask much from ourselves and our suppliers - knowledge, flexibility, quality relationships and thorough results are all important to us. Only a few suppliers are able to maintain the standards we require. Define, working with us on a project about the consumption and distribution of olive oil in the UK, managed to do much more. They used their contacts and expertise to provide qualified opinions. By assisting us in defining the important and UK-specific issues they delivered punctual, precise and thorough results. In such instances, our supplier becomes our partner and a safe reference for future studies."
• Ilaria Mazzoli, Senior Consultant Marketing and Market Research

Commissioned by Area Group on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture this two part project presented Define with some new challenges. We needed to (1) interview buyers of large retailers and food wholesalers in the UK and (2) collect web panel data for an international comparative study.

To interview buyers we had to access some of the most difficult to reach professionals in the UK - a genuine recruitment challenge, but one where our breadth of experience and extensive industry contacts were helpful (not to mention some tenacious cold-calling and persistence!). The interviews unravelled the pros and cons of the DOP/IGP kitemark system that is used on authentic Italian products. All interviews were recorded and transcribed; and subtleties of language interpreted for the Italian client. (The guidelines for delivering the data were rigorous - we were glad to meet the client expectations.)

Following this we conducted a web-panel with the general public in the UK to gauge their understanding of, and preferences for, Italian products. The results will feed into future strategy for the international market of Italian food export.