“We decided on petite shells to differentiate ourselves from the elbow-shaped macaroni, and all-natural cheddar,” she says. The couple took to the streets, knocked on supermarket doors, and engaged in what she calls guerrilla marketing.“We had no marketing budget but we did have product,” Ms. Withey says, “so we were going to wherever there were crowds, handing it out, and saying, ‘If you like this product, tell your stores,’ ” she adds. They hit ski lodges, outdoor folk concerts and store parking lots. “That was very effective,” she says.
Fast-forward to the present: Annie’s products now number 80 and can be found in Costco and Target outlets, as well as about 18,000 grocery stores and 6,000 natural-food stores nationwide.
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