Last year I reported about Launching A Business with a Cause and I thought that we should have a quick look to see what's happening to Madécasse, the business I featured. The answer is that they are still going strong as reported in the New York Times Tasteful Company/Madecasse:"These days my favorite chocolate isn’t U.S.D.A. organic certified and it’s not Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance stamped. It’s Madécasse, made from cacao grown in Madagascar’s naturally organic forests. It’s traded fairly and is environmentally friendly."
One rave review however does not make a business.
At the end of the day Madécasse may need to literally break into the Vanilla and/or Chocolate markets and that will cost money. As said before, success is not about having the best product. Marketing is not a battle for the product but a battle for the mind of the customer.
This may be a traditional conundrum of just how much money will they need to make an impact on well developed markets. With chocolate they are competing against the big boys and in vanilla their product is competing with 'industrial' alternatives.
So how easy is it to be the next Green and Blacks/Ben & Jerry/Innocent Drinks 'successful' high-quality offering and what are the odds of breaking through?
Will the success of this business boil down to the depth of their pockets? Or the quality of how they market their product (= money, again)?
Is it possible that, ironically, the business's success may be more about their ability to raise capital than the quality of their product and ethics!
13 comments:
In trusth, the number of 'overnight successes' are few. Or rather, the American dream of setting up and suddenly making a million, is a little simplistic.
My simple mind believes that many businesses hit certain plateaus and then they need to move on but don't have the whatever it is required to move to the next stage. This might be an extension of Robert's handwritten stuck slide and postcard.
Money may be the answer in most cases. Not a very romantic notion but probably true. Certainly true for us; to move on we would need new computer systems, a buigger warehouse, more poeple, a more sophisticated marketing and sales operation and so on.
Colin
Available in Wholefood Market in London.
jane
YES, the business's success may be more about their ability to raise capital than the quality of their product and ethics.
Just because you are in the ethical ballpark doesn't mean that the standard rules of business should not still apply.
Jamie
How do you make your chocolate different? Is it all about branding and packaging? I feel the whole ethical trip is just a shallow attempt at winning a sympathy vote and getting some woolley (woollie? woolly?)liberals to buy from you.
Maybe my cynical genes are on show tonight.
Nigel
We are talking about a product. It must do what it is meant to do - taste nice. If it also has some ethical credentials then so much the better. Gone are the days when people look for the ethical credentials first - eg Ecover, the green but useless washing liquid.
Jeremy
Quality is our lead selling point here at Madécasse. Marketing and capital drive the quality feature to the market.
Capital is essential but it doesn't compensate for the lack of a strong business plan and a good product.
Even with millions of dollar of capital, if the product is not good enough to generate a strong customer following the business will not be successful in the long term.
Where can we get your chocolate from in the UK?
http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/whats_cooking_in_the_kitchen_of_good_madecasse_wins
Winners in a social entrepreneurship competition is Madecasse!!!
Jamie
So now it all seems to fall apart.
Where's the rebrand?
Vanilla?Where does that come from...
The message are confusing and yet the product has some amazing reviews.
Shame on Madecasse - they have a real opportunity but somehow they are not exploiting it ot its full potential.
Come on boys... and what's with the little rollover for the new products? So much not quite working as well as it could.
We are right behind you.
So now it all seems to fall apart.
Where's the rebrand?
Vanilla?Where does that come from...
The message are confusing and yet the product has some amazing reviews.
Shame on Madecasse - they have a real opportunity but somehow they are not exploiting it ot its full potential.
Come on boys... and what's with the little rollover for the new products? So much not quite working as well as it could.
We are right behind you.
Where can we get your chocolate from in the UK?
How do you make your chocolate different? Is it all about branding and packaging? I feel the whole ethical trip is just a shallow attempt at winning a sympathy vote and getting some woolley (woollie? woolly?)liberals to buy from you.
Maybe my cynical genes are on show tonight.
Nigel
Great profile of our friends at @madecasse! @fastcompany :great slideshow! http://bit.ly/e1GMc4
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