A Vision(ary) in Soy
THE OVERWHELMING majority of chief executive officers at the top 25 U.S. food companies are convinced they can become great visionaries of our day-if the Food & Drug Administration would only let them.
The government agency is currently reviewing a claim that Supro, a soy protein ingredient developed by Protein Technologies International (PTI), St. Louis, can actually reduce cholesterol in those who eat food containing it. A decision is expected late this year.
Using direct mail last summer, PTI was able to convince a number of CEOs to explore the idea that they could have a lasting place in history. The company, a subsidiary of DuPont, received a whopping 81% response rate to an involved lead-generation mailing to bigwigs at such outfits as Kellogg, RJR/Nabisco, Quaker Oats and other packaged goods giants, telling them they could be just like Thomas Jefferson, Harry Truman or Amelia Earhart if they began mixing Supro into the processed foods they manufacture and market.
The first mailing contained a set of leather-bound biographies of those three historic figures, shipped in a custom-made four-book bookcase with one book missing and a bookmark telling them they could become a “visionary” in the near future. Four days later, a matching leather-bound blank book was sent, encouraging them to write in “visionary” success stories that would win them their own place in the pantheon.
One reason why this mail package may have worked so well is that it contained a letter from DuPont president/CEO Charles O. Holliday that read, in part, “As the trend toward functional foods progresses rapidly, our Supro soy proteins are the ideal ingredient for new product development and existing product improvements.”
The letter told executives that PTI would like to schedule appointments with its salespeople and research-and-development staffers. In varying degrees, meetings with these companies have been ongoing until now, says PTI director of marketing Keith Parle, who notes that companies pay 2 to 9 cents per pound for Supro depending on how it’s used.
PTI and the interested companies are awaiting the FDA’s decision with bated breath. In the meantime, PTI is gearing up for public relations efforts to the media about Supro, says spokeswoman Jean Caton.
