Creator Spotlight: How Haven's Kitchen is Saucing Up the CPG Space

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Flowcode creator spotlight showcases the talents and skills from our community. Today, get to know Courtnie Beceiro. She’s the Director of Brand atHaven’s Kitchen , a packaged sauce company with the goal of making cooking easier…and more fun.

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Hey Courtnie, thanks for taking the time to chat — could you tell me a bit about Haven’s Kitchen?

Haven’s Kitchen is a line of fresh sauces, made with 100% real ingredients, created to help make home cooking faster, convenient and delicious.

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You’re the Head of Marketing — what was your journey to get to this role? Have you been in the CPG space for a while?

My first job in college was working at my dad’s bread distribution company in NYC that he started the day I was born. So, I guess you can say that I was raised in the food industry. As I built the foundation of my career outside of the family business, I quickly found my niche in the Natural segment of CPG, while working at FreshDirect as a merchant/buyer for the Pantry category. That’s how I meant Alison, the Founder of Haven’s Kitchen. Since 2018 I’ve been guiding the brand through building up to a national launch at the height of the pandemic and now settling into the “new normal” of consumer behavior.

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What project does the day in the life of a Head of Marketing look like?

Getting shit done.

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Ain’t that the TRUTH! So, the CPG space is a competitive one — what’s the secret to standing out in a sea of amazing products?

In my experience  - anyone who claims to have the “secret” to anything, is selling you something. I’ve worked with so many founders that have a great product and think that’s all they need to build a global brand. But there are plenty of not-so-great products out there and they sell like crazy.

But it’s something of a perfect storm, you need a solid infrastructure (so think, manufacturing & distribution), your product needs to solve a problem, it needs to stand out on the shelf, and if you happen to have a delicious tasting product, even better!!

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Any hot takes for the CPG world in the coming year? Outside of your products…what are we going to be seeing more on shelves of?

If I could see the future, I would be rich and probably living on a beach somewhere. However, in my experience, the levers that are here to stay, regardless of the category, are elements like transparency and education through content. The days of consumers blindly trusting brands are over. Consumers are more educated now than ever and have instant access to research, verify and learn. As brands build more intimate relationships with their consumers through social media, SMS, etc. consumers are more likely to feel betrayed when they learn something about a brand that they don’t like. So being transparent and being a source of trust will be essential to emerging brands, not just pushing product.

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It’s really cool to see how you incorporate QR technology into your product — why did you decide to do it?

I remember in 2018 my now husband suggested we put QR codes on our pouches and told him that QR codes were dead. At that time, while easily accessible, QR codes were slightly ahead of their time, most people overlooking them as they buzzed by, and the off chance that someone did scan, the content was rarely maintained by the creators, so they fell flat.

All of that changed with the pandemic - As a brand we knew early on that our super power was content which is great for digital awareness. However, we also understood that we are a brand that consumers are primarily shopping for in grocery stores. Since then, the mission has been to figure out where the sweet spot is that content meets the shelf.

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When did you discover Flowcode and how?

Early 2021 we were finally able to update our packaging artwork (IYKYK). That was then I started my QR code research. I got introduced to Flowcode and the rest is history.

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How are you using Flowcode now?

We utilize Flowcodes for everything so that we have the flexibility to use a direct link to a digital coupon, direct them to a special landing page, or swap in a Flowpage if we wanted to. The Flowpages are really fun for everything from product packaging to digital business cards for the team.

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How have QR codes helped your business?

Those of us in the grocery industry understand that most retailers are pretty old school and bound to processes that aren’t necessarily flexible or affordable when it comes to giving small brands visibility. Which is hard for a small CPG when you don’t have the budget or the capabilities to support those initiatives. Having QR codes allows us to take a bit more control over.

What’s the most interesting way you’ve used QR codes?

I’m most excited about using QR codes to grow our email subscriber list! On every QR code we have the contact collection form turned on for people to sign up for our email and SMS. We then segment them out and target them differently than we would people coming to us from social media or our website. These people are coming to us from the shelf, so their experience is different from those coming to us from a viral TikTok, so why wouldn’t we speak to them differently and begin to introduce the rest of our brand little by little.

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Why should CPG companies use QR technology?

It’s another touchpoint for the consumer to interact with us. Why NOT?!

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Couldn't agree more! Before we let you go, any other exciting projects coming up that we should keep an eye out for?

1. We just rolled out on-shelf signage with QR codes leading to digital coupons! Super excited to see how people interact with those.
2. We’re about to roll out how to communicate partnerships with other brands.

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Nice! What's even nicer? Haven's Kitchen is giving all readers 10% off on their website with the code 'FLOWCODE10' — we hope you get saucy ��