The Grocer – 10 August 2019

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 10 August 2019 | The Grocer | 35

Mondelez calorie cap: Mondelez

is introducing a ‘100 calorie cap’

on all lines commonly bought for

children. Mini Fingers and

Cadbury Animals will be changed “as early as

next month”, said Mondelez, with Curly Wurly,

Fudge, Chomp and Barny sponge bears having

their calorie counts reduced by the end of 2020.

Oreo Mini snack pots and Freddo Face Cakes will

take slightly longer.

Great Porridge Co in Sainsbury’s: After just eight

months in business the “100% natural” porridge

rolls out in 385g bags in three flavours from 18

August (rsp: £3.99).

New D2C dogfood player:

Itsdogfood.com has launched,

offering a range of cold-pressed

and raw frozen dogfood as well as

jerky treats. Founder Craig Wallace, an investor in

the UK’s first cold-pressed dogfood plant, founded

the brand with design agency Robot Food.

Nirvana revamp: Non-alcoholic

brewery Nirvana has given its vir-

tuous brews a makeover it claims

will “ensure clarity for buyers

and an elegant appeal for visual display”. The

new bottles “have kept their iconic brand colours,

but the names, product descriptions and graphics

have been revamped”, said the brand.

Nomo in Waitrose: Free-from chocolate brand

Nomo is due to launch into Waitrose later this

month. Four flavours – Creamy Choc, Fruit

Crunch, Sea Salt & Caramel and Dark Chocolate

• hit 215 of the upmarket retailer’s stores from 19
  August (rsp: 90p/32g).

Fisher’s size boost: Fisher’s Gin

has increased the size of its bot-

tles without upping the price,

moving from 50cl to 70cl bottles

with the same £39.99 price after bringing its pro-

duction in-house from a third party.

Groovy oils in Tesco: The Groovy

Food Company has launched a

trio of new cooking oils into

Tesco: Virgin Avocado Oil,

Organic Coconut Oil and Organic Virgin Coconut

Oil Infused with Chilli & Garlic (rsp: £2-£4).

Free-from puds: Lillypuds has

rolled out a duo of puddings “for

special diets” for the festive sea-

son. One is alcohol-free and the

other without nuts (rsp: £12.75/454g). The NPD

“means we now offer something for everyone,

whatever their allergies or dietary requirements”,

said Lillypuds founder Alison Lilly. The brand has

also added 2x120g packs “for vegan and gluten-

free customers who want individual portions”.

grocery digest

Emma Weinbren
Brits have tucked into
an extra 2.3 million kil-
ograms of boiled noo-
dles as promotions and
appetite for world food
stepped up a notch.
Noodles amassed an
extra £11.2m in the past
year, taking their total
value to £112.3m, accord-
ing to Kantar data com-
piled for The Grocer.
Savoury noodles,
which Kantar defines as
flavoured noodles that
require boiling in water,
were the driving force
behind that growth.
They shot up £8.1m to be
worth £69.1m for the year
ending 21 April 2019.
Their plain counter-
parts also experienced
hefty growth of £3.1m to
£43.2m.

Brits’ appetite for

world flavours sends

noodle sales soaring

That made noodles

the fastest-growing area

in Kantar’s read of the

£571.6m rice and noodles

market, which excludes

instant snacks.

Kantar said brands had

largely driven the boom

through temporary price

reductions.

But Premier Foods said

“increased popularity of

world foods” was also a

driving force. It said its

partnership with Nissin

Foods had created “excel-

lent category growth” by

bringing products such

as Japanese bestseller

Nissin Cup Noodles to

the UK.

“There is significant

growth in authentic

noodles,” said Naomi

Shooman, brand man-

ager for quick meals,

snacks and soup. “Our

Nissin Soba brand has

the highest growth rate

in the market at 60%.”

Shooman added that

Batchelors Super Noodles

were also “attracting new

consumers to the cat-

egory” and “unlocking

new occasions through

the pot format”.

Focus on Rice & Noodles

p41

Promotions were also

behind the sales boom

Upmarket snacks brand

Made For Drink has sig-

nificantly boosted its

production capacity on

the back of a boom in

sales.

The brand, which has

created branded snacks

for big booze brands such

as Laurent Perrier and

Molson Coors on top of its

core snacking business,

has opened a second

kitchen with a tinning

line at its Maidenhead

base. The company said

it was actively seek-

ing alcohol producers

with which to create new

products.

Made For

Drink boosts

its capacity

New-look Smokey BBQ
Ready to Heat flavour

Mars Food is kicking off
a major refresh for Uncle
Ben’s, adding a range
of new products and
packaging.
It has added new
Ready to Heat flavours:
Onion Bhaji and Chicken
Fried Rice, which are

Uncle Ben’s gets new

flavours and refresh

exclusive to Asda, Spicy

Chilli Rice, and a lim-

ited-edition Smokey BBQ

SKU.

Packs have been given

a new look that “adds

healthy and exciting

meal inspiration”.

The brand has also

launched a range of One

Pot Rice Kits exclusively

into Tesco, designed to

take the brand “into a

new and under-devel-

oped part of the cat-

egory”. They are: Thai

Lemongrass & Chilli,

Caribbean Jerk and

Keralan Spiced Biriyani

flavours.