buying & supplying drinks
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 10 August 2019 | The Grocer | 37acid test
Veggie Beer Battered Halloumi
Who: Morrisons
What: Four slabs of halloumi cheese in beer batter
Where: Chiller
How much: £2.50/220gWhy: A perennial meat substitute in the on-trade,
halloumi is hardly a new trend in grocery. This
NPD from Morrisons wants to capitalise on its
growing reputation as a stand-in for sh in sh
and chips. The supermarket’s take on it is certi ed
by the Vegetarian Society.Consumer verdict: Shoppers thought this was too
expensive, but more than half agreed it was an
“exciting new idea”. A er preparing and tasting it
some liked the “crunchy batter and gooey cheese”
but many found the batter “greasy and too thick”,
with the cheese itself “bland and arti cial”. Some
were curious as to why halloumi would even be
battered. Others said there was “too much batter
and not enough lling” and that the batter was
“too thick” with “not enough cheese, quite bland
and chewy”. Thus two thirds said they would
“never buy” the product. Its overall score, 23, is
only one point from the category minimum.Pre-trial purchase 38%Post-trial purchase 9%Better than what’s out there 9%Exciting new idea 53%23/50
Overall scoreAcid Test is conducted by Cambridge Market Research
using its Fast Foodfax methodology, which has developed
consumer assessments of new products for more than 30
years. Fast Foodfax compares results against a database of more than 25,000 products
across 130-plus categories of food and drink. Objective, impartial and totally independent,
contact 01223 492050 or visit http://www.cambridgemr.com for more informationAll own-label lines
reviewed for Acid
Test can apply for
accreditation in The
Grocer Own Label Accreditation Scheme. For more
information visit thegrocerownlabel.co.ukDaniel Woolfson
Tesco is revamping its
cra beer range for the
second time in just three
months, introducing a
swathe of new experi-
mental brews.
The retailer, which
introduced a ra of
new cra beers largely
in 440ml cans in May,
has given its shelves a
shake-up.
Con rmed new brews
include a collabora-
tive New England IPA
by BrewDog and cult
Manchester brewery
Cloudwater – the rst
time Cloudwater’s beers
will have been sold in
a mainstream super-
market. There is also a
selection of stouts from
the likes of Magic Rock,
London Beer Factory
Tesco overhauls cra
beer again, pushing
experimental brews
and Wild Card Brewery,
which has contributed
a raspberry chocolate
donut stout. Hang Loose,
a 7% abv West Coast IPA
from Magic Rock and
Vocation Brewery, has
also gained space.
Announcing the
update on his Instagram
account, Tesco beer
buyer Dom Hill said:
“April’s range brought
a lot of new beer to themasses but there were
two areas where peo-
ple felt we hadn’t gone
far enough. The rst was
stout, the second was
West Coast IPAs.”
It is not clear whether
any of the cra beer
brands which debuted in
Tesco with the previous
range update have been
delisted to make space
for new entrants.
Suppliers claim Tesco
is looking to range and
merchandise cra beer
far more frequently going
forward, behaving more
like a bottle shop than
a major mult. Curious
Brewery MD Gareth Bath
said: “It’s great because
it is playing to the beer
geek – it’s saying there’s
something here you can’t
nd anywhere. ”BrewDog’s New England
IPA has gained spaceKopparberg’s Rosé cider
rolled out this week
Kopparberg has
launched a rosé cider to
tap “soaring demand” for
pink drinks.
The 4% abv
Kopparberg Rosé hit
supermarket shelves this
week in 500ml bottles
and 10x330ml cans.
Kopparberg taps
pink craze with Rosé
Naturally coloured
with red apple skins, it is
a “refreshing apple cider
with subtly sweet under-
tones”, said the brand.
Rosé cider is already
making a splash in the
US, where it accounts
for 13% of total cider
sales [Nielsen], and
Kopparberg expects it to
“take the UK by storm” in
the later summer months.
“Rosé cider has proven
extremely popular in
America, growing to be
almost twice the size of
the fruit cider category ,”
said head of marketing
Rob Salvesen.Campo Viejo is adding an
Albariño to its lineup of
Spanish wines.
Made with 100%
albariño grapes hand-
picked in Spain’s Rías
Baixas region, Campo
Viejo Albariño boasts
“ fruity avours reminis-
cent of green apple, cit-
rus and oral nuances”,
said the brand.
It rolls into Sainsbury’s
and Ocado from 11
August (rsp: £10/750ml).
The NPD “o ers an
exciting alternative trade-
up ”, said Chris Shead,
o -trade channel director
for Pernod Ricard UK.Campo Viejo
adds Albariño
white wine