Insights from Karim Khalil, founder of Yaza Foods

You know your product is great. But if shoppers don’t understand what it is or how it fits into their life, they won’t buy it.

That’s the challenge with launching anything unfamiliar in the U.S. market: even if your product is great, it won’t matter if people don’t pick it up.

Below, we show you how to get people to understand and buy your product. You’ll learn how to tighten your messaging, leverage packaging and placement, and connect with consumers.

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For founders who are:

• Building a global CPG brand in a new market
• Introducing new products or formats
• Navigating a consumer education challenge </aside>

Find the familiar in the foreign

If consumers don’t understand your product in three seconds, they’ll move on. Your job is to make it instantly clear what it is, why it matters, and how it fits into their life.

Ask yourself:

• [ ] What product are you replacing in their pantry?
• [ ] What need does it meet: taste, health, convenience, culture?
• [ ] Can you describe it without using regional or niche terms?
• [ ] Does it fit a certain lifestyle or preference? (e.g. high protein, global snacking, gut health)
• [ ] Is it tied to a trend (e.g. global snacking)?

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Use comparisons to familiar products (e.g., “like Greek yogurt, but no sugar”).

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