Tuesday of this week, we conducted a Focus Group session in Atlanta.  They are always very interesting.   All the participants were mothers who drink milk - some were Mayfield consumers and some consumed other brands.  The way the Focus Group works is interesting, so I thought I would share this with you.  The participants arrived at an office that is designed just for this purpose.  There were 8 participants.  They went into a room and sat around a conference table.  The moderator sat at one end and behind her was a mirror.  I was with people from our company and our advertising agency on the other side of the mirror.  The participants knew someone was watching and listening and that the session was being recorded, but they didn’t seem to be intimidated by the two-way mirror.

The moderator asked questions about milk, such as:  What fat level do you buy?  Why do you buy milk?  We showed some story boards that look like a carton version of a commercial.  Our reason for this Focus Group was to understand their thoughts about our Mayfield Nutrish Milk.  As we expected, they were not familiar with it.  We are planning to promote Nutrish next year.  I think it is the best milk product we make.  It is 1% milk and it has yogurt cultures in it that aid the digestion of food.  It basically keeps the “gut” in great shape.  When we introduced this product in 1989, the big news was that you could enjoy the power of the digestive effects of the cultures, lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium, without any change in the flavor of the milk. 

Since 1989, over twenty different pieces of research have been completed, independent of our company, which supplies us with the cultures and the process to add them.  The result is that drinking at least one glass of Nutrish a day improves the immune system of most people.  The reality is that if your gut is very healthy, your entire body will also be healthy.  One of the big questions was, “Why is Mayfield Nutrish needed?”  In answer, these two cultures should naturally occur in everyone’s gut and they are replenished by raw vegetables that are eaten.  Well, we don’t eat as many raw vegetables out of our own gardens anymore, plus the preservatives in meats, chips and other foods make it hard for these cultures to flourish in our “gut.”  Also, when we use antibiotics that are taken for some illness, the antibiotics kill the good organisms in our body, along with the bad organisms that are making us sick.  My mother had a real serious infection several years ago and had to take antibiotics through a shunt.  She drank Nutrish, and never had stomach problems. 

It was interesting to hear the interest and comments from the participants.  Their input will help us do a better job of presenting this product to the public.  I personally think it is the best product we make because it is so good for you.  It is all we drink at my house. 

We presently have 1% Nutrish Milk but we are also considering a Skim or 2% Nutrish.  I welcome comments about this direction.

Thanks,

Scottie