The Grocer – 17 August 2019

32 | The Grocer | 17 August 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

buying & supplying grocery

Asda revamps frozen

to boost veggie SKUs

Asda has dropped Birds Eye’s Sweet Potato Waffles

Daniel Selwood
Asda is continuing to
overhaul its ranging
across its stores, this time
making space in its fro-
zen aisle for extra health-
ier and meat-free options.
The retailer has pulled
many dozens of SKUs
from its freezers in the
past few weeks, with
ready meals and meat
& poultry the biggest
victims of the cull.
The categories have
lost more than 100 lines
between them, with
own label bearing the
brunt. Chicken Filled
Giant Yorkshire Pudding
(385g), Classic Omelette,
Chips & Beans (400g),
Slow Cooked Beef Brisket
in Stout Gravy (440g)
and Southern Fried
Mini Fillets (400g) are
among 70-plus own label

variants to have been

delisted by Asda.

“We have recently

undergone a range

change on our frozen cat-

egory,” an Asda spokes-

woman said. “We have

increased the space dedi-

cated to growing catego-

ries such as vegetarian,

vegan and free-from.”

Asda had also listed

“a variety of new brands

such as Oumph, Strong

Roots and Green Cuisine

to further expand our

NPD” she added.

While Green Cuisine

is part of Birds Eye, the

shakeup has been mostly

bad news for the sup-

plier. It has seen almost

30 frozen SKUs dropped

since the start of June

• including Sweet Potato
  Waffles, launched 10
  months ago.
  However, Birds Eye,
  which declined to com-
  ment, has won back some
  space for the likes of its
  Perfectly Baked range of
  frozen fish.
  British Frozen Food
  Federation CEO Richard
  Harrow said he was
  “really impressed” with
  Asda’s frozen ranging.
  The overhaul was sim-
  ilar to Tesco’s Project
  Reset programme that
  allowed remaining
  SKUs to be “shown with
  authority” and be easier
  to shop, he added.
  It mirrors the ranging
  strategy elsewhere this
  year in Asda, which has
  seen the bagged snacks
  and babyfood categories
  made more navigable.

Fast-growing Lindt has

joined the dark milk

chocolate craze with a

three-strong selection

of sharing bars, taking

on the likes of Cadbury

Darkmilk.

Joining the brand’s

Excellence lineup, the

new range comprises

45%, 55% and 65% cocoa

variants (rsp: £1.99/80g)

• each containing
  around 14% of milk sol-
  ids. It comes with Lindt’s
  value up 8.8% in grocery
  to £255.8m on volumes
  up 8.2% [Nielsen 52 w/e
  29 December 2018].

Three new bars will join the

brand’s Excellence lineup

Lindt unveils

dark milk trio

of choc bars

Galaxy Truffles will come in

206g and 329g boxes

Mars Wrigley is to bring
back Galaxy Truffles after
eight years, launching it
as a standalone product
for the first time.
Created to cash in on
the trend for confection-
ery gifting and the suc-
cess of Maltesers Truffles,
they will be available in
two sizes of box: 206g
(rsp: £4.99) and 329g
(rsp: £7.49). Each features
matte and metallic deco-
ration, and contains indi-
vidually foil-wrapped
truffles made from
Galaxy milk chocolate.
The smaller pack
is set to roll out from

Galaxy Truffles make return to

shelves in standalone gift boxes

mid-August, while the

larger will be available

exclusively in Tesco from

mid-September. A £1m

digital push will kick off

in November.

The truffles came “in

response to increased

consumer demand

for premium choco-

lates which are special

enough to give” Mars

said. They follow the May

2018 launch of Maltesers

Truffles, which generated

£9.1m in sales by the end

of last year.

Galaxy Truffles were

previously available

only as a part of Mars

Celebrations but were

replaced in 2011 by Twix.

Ever since, shoppers have

raised petitions demand-

ing the truffles’ return.

Galaxy was “thrilled to

be answering the undeni-

able demand” said brand

director Sarah Mellor.

Hint of Salt: ‘25% less salt

than regular potato crisps’

Walkers is targeting

shoppers looking to cut

their salt intake with a

new range of reduced salt

crisps.

Hint of Salt promises

“25% less salt than regu-

lar potato crisps” – con-

taining 0.9g of salt per

Walkers adds duo of

reduced salt crisps

100g. By comparison,

Walkers Ready Salted has

1.4g per 100g.

Landing on shelves

this week, Natural Sea

Salt and Olive Oil & Herb

(rsp: £1.65/6x25g) will be

backed by a campaign

from September.

Despite being lower

in salt, both variants

offered “more than just

a hint of flavour” said

Walkers brand manager

Lizzie O’Connell.

“It’s a common mis-

conception that lower fat,

salt or sugar means dull

in taste, and we want to

dispel that myth.”