Local Farm Food Network: Brand Analysis

As more and more consumers choose a healthy lifestyle, local farm product stores become more popular. However, people prefer brands with an honest and transparent supply chain. The article introduces a brand analysis of the farm food retail chain Kalina-Malina, Kemerovo, Russia, with a set of improvement recommendations. The research focused on the consumers’ assessment of the Kalina-Malina brand as a retail chain selling local farm food products. The analysis relied on D.V. Solovieva and S.V. Afanasyeva’s comprehensive method of market brand analysis, an expert and standardized consumer survey, an analysis of documents and open-access information, and a statistical, economic, and graphical data analysis. The main characteristics incorporated into the brand by its developers proved transparent to the consumers. However, they did not associate the brand with uniqueness and progressiveness. While most respondents recognized the brand and evaluated it as friendly and natural, they had no clear idea of the visual interior design. The experts evaluated the promotion as the highest level. A standardized survey of consumers in situ showed that 70% considered the brand a leader in its segment and ≥ 50% proved to be loyal customers with a positive attitude towards the brand and a high satisfaction level. However, they did not quite understand the slogan and found it inconsistent with the brand. The comprehensive brand analysis of the local farm food chain Kalina-Malina revealed its weaknesses and made it possible to develop a set of recommendations, e.g., to develop a new slogan that would broadcast the company values, to engage brand ambassadors and influencer bloggers to increase brand awareness, etc.