It’s the next step in the expansion of Farin’UP in the US market since it originally launched there in summer 2018, and it has already been met with success–including being featured as a “kitchen time-saver” on the NBC Today show.
In addition to getting shelf space at the 130 stores run by Giant Food, the brand will be available in an additional 310 grocery outlets in February, confirms Jean-Luc Brosius, managing director of MK 1704, the Texas-based LLC which handles the brand in the US.
Watch the video here.
Getting shelf space in the US is not as easy as it is in Europe, confirms Brosius, who calls the US market “aggressive”.
“Even if a buyer is interested, we have to go to a distributor to have it approved, so it takes time to get it launched,” the Luxembourger says. “It can take months before there is placement on the shelf.”
Charming marketing
Farin’UP is the flagship brand of the Luxembourg family-run mill Moulins de Kleinbettingen, which started in 1704 and is now run in Luxembourg by Jean Muller. It is the parent company of MK 1704.
One of the reasons the brand stands out compared to US brands linked to milled goods, says Brosius, is the patented, innovative packaging of Farin’UP, which uses a modern plastic pouch with a pour spout.
Moreover, “people like the history of the parent company from 1704,” Brosius says. “It’s one of the ‘wow’ factors. There’s a certain weight in having such a history behind the product.”
This charm extends to the brand’s character, Louis, as well, whom the company describes as a “cheeky European globetrotter on his adventures, collecting recipes and sharing Farin’UP products with people around the world.”
Pancake artist food truck
Brosius says that he likes how the brand is growing and adapting to the US market. But he also has some of his own goals he’d like to achieve in the coming year.
Jasmine Rezonable of Get Caked is a self-taught pancake artist. Photo: Get Caked
He has been working with Los Angeles (CA) pancake artist Jasmine Rezonable, who is also the founder of Get Caked.
The two met at a food fair, and since then Rezonable has been using Farin’UP in her pancake art and will further serve as brand ambassador of the product when their 1960s-style food truck launches later this year.
The plan is that she will run the food truck in the Los Angeles area, serving up French-style crêpes and savoury pancakes out of the truck. Rezonable says she is looking forward to the new adventure, hoping she can take the food truck up and down the west coast.
Find the article here.
Find the website of Farin’UP here.
About Moulins de Kleinbettingen
The Muller family has been producing superior quality flour in Luxembourg for centuries. Today the mill is owned and operated by the 11th generation of this lineage of artisans.
Find the website of Moulins de Kleinbettingen here.