In 2002, Jennifer MacDonald's baby had a bad case of eczema. "I'd read that flaxseed oil helped, so I started giving him a couple of drops," says the London, Ont., resident.
She'd also heard that flaxseed oil, specifically the omega-3 fatty acids that it contains, combats a host of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity. When she noticed it was helping her son's skin, she figured she might as well give it to the whole family. "But it tastes grassy on its own," she says. So she started fooling around in the kitchen and came up with a salad dressing.
In June, 2006, Ms. MacDonald, a biochemical engineer by training, launched Cenabal Gourmet Organics and began bottling and selling her creations: two flaxseed dressings, a bread dipper and an oil blend, all made with organic, unrefined oils. The business got off to a good start, receiving an injection of $200,000 when Ms. MacDonald was selected as the winning entrepreneur on the CBC premiere of Dragon's Den.
A year later, when specialty foods distributor Tree of Life picked up her three bread dipping oils, Ms. MacDonald put the brakes on her other products. Since the Florida-based company accounts for 90 per cent of Cenabal's sales, it is no longer worth her while to produce the salad dressings and oil blends. (She plans, however, to soon launch a less-expensive version of her original flaxseed dressing.)
Bottles of Cenabal dipping oils, priced at $8.50 each, now line the shelves of 200 independent and mass-market retailers across North America. "I've been very successful at getting my product on the shelf," she says. Ms. MacDonald's problem is that customers seem reluctant to try it.
"If I'm doing a demonstration, they love the taste and buy it. But when I'm not there to say, 'Buy it for all of these great reasons,' it doesn't move."
Ms. MacDonald believes she knows what's slowing down her sales. She thinks the ingredient that makes her product different isn't on the public's radar. "Our focus is on the clean, unrefined oil," she says. "But the average consumer doesn't realize that refined oil is as bad as refined sugar."
Standing in the way of her spreading the word is a modest marketing budget of $25,000 a year. Says Ms. MacDonald: "I need advice on effective ways to create buzz around a product, without a lot of money."
What the experts say
Ms. MacDonald's got her work cut out for her, says Linda Haynes, co-founder of Toronto's Ace Bakery, which she started with six employees in 1993. Today, the company has a staff of 300, although Ms. Haynes recently sold her share of the business. "It's a very crowded market," she says. "So she needs to find other things people can do with this product." A bread dipping oil is not a cupboard staple, says Ms. Haynes. But expanding its use to other things - such as using it in recipes, and providing those recipes - could turn it into just that.
Ms. Haynes recommends she remove the image of bread on the label, and also amend the product name, which contains the phrase "bread dipping oil."
Laurie Lashbrook, owner of The Lashbrook Group, a consulting firm in London, Ont., has some tips about the label as well: "Nothing stands out. The most important words are 'certified organic' and 'unrefined,' but if you're in her target demographic, a 40-year-old female, you're not going to see that without putting your glasses on."
If Ms. MacDonald doesn't have the funds to hire a firm to redesign the label, Ms. Lashbrook suggests she simply add a small booklet to the neck of the bottle, as a quick fix. "That'll give her a place to also share her story, and she can include recipes and explain the product too."
