On August 8 and 9, Imalinx, in conjunction with the California Dairy Council and 5 cheese producers, visited the city of Querétaro to provide training to executives and store managers on products that bear the Real California Milk seal.
Mention client, association CMAB
The event was coordinated 3 months in advance to be able to adjust the agendas of Point Reyes, Di Stefano, Cheese Bits, Joseph Farms, and Vintage, prepare the presentations, send samples, and arrange the training for 40 people from HEB that included executives, regional managers from Bajío, store managers, and deli managers.
In addition to the presentations, there were Q&A sessions, as well as a guided tasting by Joe Baird, The Cheese Monger at CMAB, to discuss the flavor profiles of some cheeses, ways to use them, and how to pair them.
Within the trip and the activity, tastings were also coordinated in 3 HEB stores to promote the products with the end consumer.
“Thank you for the support. With these activities we can boost sales and commitment of the stores and collaborators to increase product sales!” HEB Regional Buyer
On Tuesday, July 23rd, the Delizie della Burrata event took place in Cuernavaca, Morelos. An event designed to bring the best quality of fresh cheeses to the door of the foodservice sector in the eternal spring city. Di Stefano cheeses are made with 100% cow’s milk from California in the artisan style and with the original Italian recipe.
Together with our distributor Gennaro Riccio we presented the Di Stefano brand, its history and trajectory. Gennaro gave us a training on the uses to learn more about each product, its flavors, versatility and quality; delighting us from classic recipes to very creative innovations.
We had 15 attendees from 9 different companies, all of them were able to learn, taste and ask questions. They took away samples and a gift kit, as well as many ideas to apply everything they learned!
Expo ANTAD, that took place from March 12 to 14, is a trade show focused on the retail sector with more than 1,100 exhibiting companies and an estimated 10,000 professional visitors.
This year IMALINX coordinated a total of 17 booths for 6 of our clients, organizing logistics, business meetings and follow-ups with importers, distributors and supermarkets of various categories of food and beverages; from fresh produce such as Idaho Potatoes, grains and nuts such as Popcorn and California Raisins, dairy products with California Milk and various companies from the South and West of the United States.
The show was a success and has allowed us to see products in the supermarket in a short period of time after the show.
We start the year with new desserts!
At the beginning of 2024 we launched 14 different First Street ice cream flavors at Chedraui nationwide in Mexico. From the classic vanilla and chocolate flavors, to new combinations such as our rainbow sorbet with orange, pineapple and raspberry ice cream.
We also launched the creamy French Petit Pot dessert at Costco Mexico, also nationwide. This dessert is a must, with simple ingredients, organic and super creamy, made with 72% cocoa. Its size is ideal to enjoy any day of the week, alone or with whipped cream, nuts and raspberries.
The launch of Petit Pot was accompanied by 4 demo days, as well as a publication on Real California Milk Mexico’s social networks announcing the new product, achieving a 53% increase in sales.
In December 2023, WUSATA’s largest trade mission (Mega Mision) was once again held.
As every year, as representatives of the Western U.S. Agribusiness Association in Mexico, we hosted and organized the Trade Mission that offers U.S. exporting companies an exceptional opportunity to meet with buyers from Mexico and Latin America.
It took place in Mexico City and Monterrey from December 3rd – 6th, 2023, where B2B meetings were held between exporters and potential buyers from Mexico City, Monterrey, Panama and Costa Rica, such as supermarkets, importers, distributors and food service institutions. Two exhibition spaces were set up in Mexico City and one in Monterrey, where participating U.S. companies were able to meet with different importers and showcase their products.
A total of 13 U.S. companies attended the Mission coordinated by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the California State Department of Agriculture.
A total of 160 meetings were coordinated during the mission with 54 buyers in Mexico City and Monterrey. In addition, 4 Latin American companies, 2 Panamanian and 2 Costa Rican companies flew to Mexico City and 4 regional Mexican buyers flew to Monterrey to meet with the delegation.
Espacio Food and Service is the most important food show in Chile. It was held from September 27th to 29th in Santiago de Chile, Chile where the key contacts of the industry get together to share trends of products, services, and technologies.
California Milk took part for the first time in the show to explore the Chilean market and its potential on the dairy industry. This time CMAB participated in the US Pavilion, giving us an excellent booth location.
During our time in Chile, we visited the main supermarkets in the country to know the varieties available, store formats, and start evaluating business development opportunities.
In the show California Milk found interest of over 100 importers, distributors, and restaurants specifically for the cheese category like cream cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, and artisan cheeses. Also, we started to develop relationships with at least 5 key contacts of the retail, foodservice and brand reps.
“We value your visit to know and evaluate Chile. We hope to move forward and be able to have many Real California Milk products in Chile and South America. The response of the contacts after the show has been very positive and encouraging. We’ve already had 5 meetings.” -Renato Poblete, Deli Casei
This year, we were able to introduce the different presentations of California Select Farms brand cheeses to the City Club chain. To boost sales, sampling sessions were held nationwide on 4 weekends during June and July.
The objective of the activity was for people to know more about the cheeses offered by Real California Milk, so that they can learn about the value and differentiation of dairy products with the seal and thus make better purchasing decisions.
For the tastings, the 6 different varieties were used, during the 10 days of demos a total of 3,467 cheeses were sold obtaining an ROI of 82%.
Six companies from the Western United States belonging to WUSATA, participated in ANTAD 2022, offering their products in the show’s American pavilion, meeting with self-service buyers with the aim of incorporating their products into the Mexican market. The attending companies were:
Imalinx oversaw assisting the American companies with the coordination of meetings with supermarkets, importers and distributors in the booth and outside of it, achieving the presence of more than 15 importers and supermarkets at the event.
This edition of ANTAD turned out to be effective, since our visiting companies from the Western United States were able to set up successful meetings with several buyers in search of new products.
The California Milk Advisory Board once again participated in the largest Expo for Supermarkets in LATAM, Expo ANTAD. A leading professional event for the Retail, Hotel and Restaurant sector in the food industry supply chain, took place May 17-19 in Guadalajara.
It was an event focused on generating business meetings, publicizing the attributes and benefits of California Dairy Products, as well as the support we provide in marketing and communication matters.
We presented different brands of artisan cheeses such as Point Reyes, Sierra Nevada, Fiscalini, Vintage, Bellwether and Nicasio Valley.
Bob Leonard, Vice President of Pacific Cheese, presented the California Select Farms brand cheeses and we also prepared pizzas as part of the tasting activity throughout the 3 days of the expo.
Thanks to the event, we generated leads, we were able to introduce the full range of Vintage cheeses in the Mexican market and generate business opportunities for specialty products.
Due to Mother’s Day and the multiple recipes that can be made with Real California Milk’s mozzarella cheese, we implemented a strategy throughout the month of May through Sam’s Club digital magazine to promote and publicize the quality of the seal.
Editorial content was published promoting the brand’s own mozzarella cheese “Member’s Mark” in its two presentations, in bar and grated. This effort was supported by mobile and static banners on the Sam’s Club website, as well as posts on its social networks. These efforts were in force during the month of May seeking to promote the Memember’s Mark mozzarella cheese and the slogan of Real California Milk “Look for the seal”, where flavor, quality and performance were the main messages to highlight about the product.
During the promotion, a total of $13.7 M was sold nationwide, adding both presentations of mozzarella cheese. On the other hand, the campaign achieved a total of 1.86M impressions and a CTR of 2%.