The Grocer – 13 January 2018

38 | The Grocer | 13 January 2018 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

buying & supplying grocery

Leeds ice cream startup

Northern Bloc is set to roll

out its first vegan lines –

after more than two years

of development.

The quartet will land in

freezers by the spring in

grocery and foodservice.

It is made with rice milk

and without eggs or arti-

ficial stabilisers.

Packed in a 500ml tub

for retail (rsp: £5.49), the

four variants are Salted

Peanut & Chocolate,

Hazelnut & Rose,

Chocolate & Orange

Blossom, and Strawberry

& Yuzu.

The ice creams have taken

two years-plus to develop

First vegan

ice creams for

Northern Bloc

Houmous hikes make

for costly Veganuary

Average prices for supermarket houmous are up by 12%

Carina Perkins
Brits are paying signifi-
cantly more for houmous
this Veganuary follow-
ing price hikes across the
major mults, research by
The Grocer reveals.
Average prices for
supermarket houmous
have increased by a
whopping 12% since
January 2017, following
increases over the past 12
months [Brand View 52
w/e 9 January 2018].
Tesco this week hiked
prices on Me Too! hou-
mous, adding 12p to the
price of a 250g pot, now
£1.69, and 19p to the
brand’s 500g pots, now
£2.69. It also increased
250g pots of Yarden hou-
mous from £1.87 to £1.89
and 400g pots from £2.94
to £2.99.
It follows price hikes

on own-label houmous

by most major super-

markets at the end of last

year. A 310g pot is now

£1.47 on average across

the mults, up 33p on

January 2017.

Suppliers have been

squeezed by a global

shortage of key ingredi-

ent chickpeas, which has

pushed up costs.

“Chickpea prices have

increased during 2017

and remain high,” said

Tasneem Backhouse,

joint managing direc-

tor at EHL Ingredients.

“Demand is strong from

every market and cur-

rently there isn’t enough

supply to go around.

This is driven by poor

crops in some of the main

producing origins over

the past 12 months.”

Wholesale prices for

US chickpeas have risen

31.5% over the past two

years, from £0.47/kg in

January 2016 to £0.69/

kg in January 2018, after

peaking at £0.71/kg in

November 2017 [Mintec].

Suppliers stressed

retail prices were at the

discretion of retailers.

“We have a quality prod-

uct which we believe is

worth paying more for,

however we do need to

strike a balance which

ensures we are competi-

tively priced and makes

us accessible to as many

consumers as possible,”

said Ramona Hazan,

founder of Me Too! “We

would not want lose cus-

tomers as a result of retail

price inflation.”

New ad sees a shopkeeper
give away a Dairy Milk bar

Cadbury is going “back
to its roots” with a £12m
push that sees the sup-
plier explore “everything
good” about itself.
New positioning
focused on the compa-
ny’s history as “a fam-
ily brand founded on

Cadbury looks to its

past for £12m push

generous principles” will

be led by a high-profile

TV ad for Dairy Milk.

Set to make its debut

on Saturday (13 January)

during ITV’s The Voice,

it tells the tale of a young

girl who wants to buy

a chocolate bar for her

mum. Finding she has no

money in her purse, the

shopkeeper gives her the

snack for free.

The commercial aimed

to shine a light on “small

moments of authentic

human generosity” said

Benazir Barlet-Batada,

brand equity lead for

Cadbu r y.

Veganuary prompts NPD

activity by the multiples

Tesco has launched

an exclusive 20-strong

lineup of vegan ready

meals, pizzas and food-

to-go lines under the

brand Wicked Kitchen.

Developed by Derek

Sarno, Tesco’s execu-

tive chef and director of

plant-based innovation,

the range rolled out this

week to more than 600

Tesco branches.

It includes Carrot

Pastrami-Spiced Wrap,

Nana’s Mushroom

Bolognese, Caponata

Sourdough Pizza,

Gunpowder Potato

Chana Masala, and BBQ

Tesco launches 20-strong range

of Wicked Kitchen vegan lines

Butternut Macaroni, with

rsps between £3 and £4.

Wicked Kitchen aimed

to “delight vegans” and

encourage meat eaters to

opt for more plant-based

options, said Sarno.

The launch is the lat-

est response by the mults

to tap the surge in the UK

flexitarian trend.

Sainsbury’s and Ocado

unveiled additions to

their plant-based alter-

native ranges last week

across own label and

brands – while Aldi intro-

duced vegan-friendly

Specialbuys to coincide

w it h Vega nua r y.

The Christmas season

saw Tesco boost its range

of vegan alternatives,

offering Turmeric Spiced

Cauliflower Wellington

and Pecan & Peanut

Roast centrepieces, while

Asda claimed a first with

its vegan mince pie.