30 | The Grocer | 24 August 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
buying & supplying grocery
Huel unveiled its RTD lineup last year, with Chocolate joining the range this monthHuel makes move
to high street with
Sainsbury’s rollout
Daniel Selwood
Fast-growing ‘complete
meal’ brand Huel is to
go offline for the first
time, expanding from its
direct-to-consumer roots
into a major mult.
The Tring-based busi-
ness is expected to roll
into Sainsbury’s by the
end of this month, as it
looks to capitalise on
the popularity for its
vegan portfolio of pow-
dered meals, snack bars,
granola and ready-to-
drink shakes.
RTDs will be the first
of Huel’s lines to land on
shelf, where they will
join rival products from
Feed, the ‘smart food’
brand from France that
made its UK debut in
April before expanding to
Sainsbury’s in June.
Further details of
Huel’s rollout are yet
to be confirmed. Butthe brand’s CEO, James
McMaster, told The
Grocer: “On many occa-
sions, food is an impulse-
led purchase. Exploring
retail opportunities with
select partners as we
grow will help Huel be
more available for those
on-the-go missions.”
The DTC business
unveiled its RTD lineup
at the end of last year in
Berry and Vanilla vari-
ants, with Chocolate join-
ing this month. Each is
low in sugar and salt,
contains a “balanced
macro split” of carbohy-
drate, fat, protein and
fibre, and provides 26
essential vitamins and
minerals.
Having launched the
drinks, Huel “always
knew it would open up
conversations about
going into stores, as
it is more convenientthan our powder range”
McMaster said.
Launched in 2015 by
Julian Hearn, Huel has
since generated annual
sales of £40m. It recently
sold its 50 millionth meal
across its market of more
than 80 countries, which
includes the US, China
and Japan.
Its expansion was
accelerated last autumn
when it secured £20m in
funding led by VC firm
Highland Europe.
At around the same
time, the UK’s burgeon-
ing ‘complete nutrition’
market was joined by
Soylent from the US. The
Californian grocery sen-
sation’s RTDs – with 20g
of protein and 26 vita-
mins and minerals –
were first available via
Amazon before making
their way this April to
WH Smith.High-protein bars will roll
out in mid-September
UK startup The
Savourists is aiming to
take the on-the-go snack
bar market “beyond
sugar” with the launch of
a savoury range.
Claiming a first for the
category, the new brand
will roll out high-protein
duo Black Olive & Nori
Seaweed and Sundried
Tom ato & He rb (r sp:
£1.80/37g) from mid-Sep-
tember to independent
grocers and health food
stores.
They are made from
pumpkin seeds, chia,
The Savourists goes
‘beyond sugar’ with
savoury snack bars
flax and sunflower seeds,
with 100g providing
around 22g of protein, 4g
of sugar and 445 calories.
The Savourists’ aim
was “to liberate snack-
ers from the tyranny
of sweet” said founder
Harry Turpin, a former
Cawston Press sales
executive.
“The sweet protein bar
market is incredibly satu-
rated, with the majority
of products having simi-
lar taste profiles and mis-
leading brand names,”
he added.
The Savourists has just
secured around £130,000
from angel investors
via the Seed Enterprise
Investment Scheme.
The funds would be
invested in “branding
and product develop-
ment, along with man-
ufacturing scale-up”
Tu r pi n s a id.Coca-Cola looks to be
preparing a UK launch of
Limca, its cloudy lemon-
ade brand from India.
The US giant registered
the 48-year-old soda’s
name last month with the
IPO under class 32, which
covers soft drinks.
The lemon & lime-fla-
voured Limca made its
debut in 1971 in India,
which remains its largest
market. It is also avail-
able in some parts of the
US.
Packed in a variety of
formats, Limca is made
with natural and arti-
ficial flavourings. Each
Coke mulls UK debut
for Limca soft drink
100ml contains 44kcals
and 11g of sugar.
By comparison, the UK
version of Coca-Cola’s
similarly flavoured Sprite
has 14kcals and 3.3g of
sugar per 100ml
Coca-Cola declined to
comment.Limca launched in India, its
largest market, in 1971HUEL INJECTOR
Retail opportunities will help us be more available for
on-the-go missions – James McMaster, CEO, Huel