Quorn is bringing back its iconic trio of puppets to help retailers drive seasonal summer sales of its popular vegan Deli range.
The “So Tasty! Why Choose The Alternative?’ campaign will be back from 19 June running across Radio, VOD, digital and social channels, reaching millions of consumers nationwide.
“Sandwiches remain a staple of British lunchtimes. The nation spends around £8bn on sandwiches each year, so there is a huge opportunity to encourage shoppers into making more sustainable choices around these occasions,” said Gill Riley, Marketing Director at Quorn Foods UK.
“Quorn is on a mission to get more people eating delicious meat free food, for the health of the planet.
One of the best ways we can do that is by building connections with flexitarians who are making a conscious decision to reduce their meat intake, but don’t want to lose out on the taste and texture they know and love from deli meat. We know our Deli range is the perfect solution, making an easy and delicious swap for consumers and another step towards helping the planet.
“Our fun trio of puppets landed an engaging and memorable campaign that changed perceptions on taste and quality, which importantly helped drive sales for retailers. So we just had to bring them back again this year!”
Last year’s launch of the “So Tasty!” campaign, not only won accolades but also resulted in a huge influx of new shoppers coming into the category. Quorn recorded its highest level of brand awareness for the year and chilled Deli penetration gains were up 7.7 per cent, highlighting a huge incremental sales opportunity for retailers to tap into throughout the newest campaign.
“Our Deli range is already a must stock for retailers, exceeding £1m RSV within the first six months of our launch campaign last year. We know they’re a hit with shoppers and that’s largely down to taste and texture. We have tested these ham and beef products against their meat equivalent where they matched on a number of metrics, including flavour, so there really is no need to choose the alternative,” added Gill.
Quorn’s vegan Deli range includes Quorn Yorkshire Ham, Roast Beef, Finely Sliced Ham and Roast Chicken Style Slices (RRP £3).
Gherkin brand Mrs Elswood has unveiled a new duo of snack pickles in handy pouches for maximum on-the-go enjoyment.
The innovative new Mrs Elswood Pickle Bites are available in convenient 50g packs – perfect for on-the go snacking, picnics and lunchboxes – in fiery Peri Peri and the original Classic flavours.
“Delivering all the much-loved punch and crunch of a Mrs Elswood Gherkin but now in a handy pouch for extra convenience, we’re confident that Mrs Elswood Pickle Bites will be a hit with consumers seeking a new vegetable-based snacking experience,” commented Mat Moyes, Marketing Controller for Mrs Elswood.
“We know that consumers are increasingly seeking healthier snacking alternatives – and a pickled vegetable fits the bill perfectly. Pickles are a wonderfully versatile little product – delicious either on their own or when pimping up the dullest of dishes!” added Moyes.
“However, virtually all pickles sold in the UK come in jars and we appreciate that when people are out and about, they don’t want to be dealing with a load of pickle juice so we’ve developed a pickle with all the flavour and barely any brine and popped them into pouches to help consumers enjoy our gherkins wherever they may be.”
Mrs Elswood Pickle Bites are the result of the meeting of three key trends – convenience and portability, the desire to snack more healthily and the growing consumer desire to zing up the everyday with flavours developed specifically to put a punch into lunch.
The launch of Mrs Elswood Pickle Bites comes as gherkins continue to show strong growth in the UK (+10.6 per cent value growth). Mrs Elswood is now the UK’s #1 gherkin with a 17 per cent value share.
Gluten-free, vegan and kosher with an 18 month shelf-life, Mrs Elswood Pickle Bites (RRP £1.79 per 50g pouch) are available through brand owner Empire Bespoke Foods, a leading UK importer and distributor of speciality foods.
Rowntree’s has announced the launch of its latest innovation - Jelly Tots Tangy, as it celebrates the 60th birthday of Jelly Tots.
A vibrant and playful twist on the much-loved classic Jelly Tots, originally launched in 1965, this new creation steps into the sour space, offering fans a flavourful experience that combines nostalgia with tanginess!
Made with real fruit juice, the sweets are not only bursting with flavour but are also vegan-friendly, appealing to a broader audience who value delicious treats.
Packaged in a 140g sharing bag, Jelly Tots Tangy (RRP £1.50) is perfect for any sharing occasion, whether it's a family gathering or fun sociable events with friends.
“At Rowntree’s, we are dedicated to bringing joy and innovation to our fans. With Jelly Tots Tangy, we’ve taken a beloved classic and added a refreshing twist that we believe will resonate with both new and loyal fans alike,” Hayley Nixon, senior brand manager for Rowntree’s, said.
“It’s not just a sweet; it’s a fun experience to share and enjoy together!”
Jelly Tots Tangy rolls out in stores nationwide this January.
Mars Wrigley has launched two new Extra Refreshers price marked packs (PMPs), perfectly suited to the convenience channel. The Tropical and Bubblemint flavour PMPs are now available in 30-piece bottles and soft chew format, providing retailers with an additional opportunity to drive gum sales.
The gum category is currently growing at a rate of +4.9 per cent year on year (value), demonstrating the revenue opportunity1. The new PMPs support this by enabling convenience retailers to maximise the Extra Refreshers sales in the channel – 90 per cent of shoppers haven’t tried Refreshers and yet 70 per cent of all Refreshers fruit volume is incremental to the category. Additionally, fruit gum is the fastest growing segment in the category and is growing faster than the wider category with value growth of 8.9 per cent.
“The benefits of PMPs are well known – they offer a quick price comparison and can capture the impulse shopper’s attention to drive retailers’ incremental sales,” said Ross Ripamonti, Gum Brand Director at Mars Wrigley. “Our new PMPs deliver on this by providing trending flavours that communicate value to the shopper.
“This is a hugely exciting time for the category and the Extra Refreshers brand. This year, we are putting a multimillion media investment behind our fruit gum range, including Extra Refreshers PMPs, to bring the product benefits to life and support sales within the convenience channel.”
The Extra Refreshers PMP bottles are now available in wholesalers nationwide with an RRP of £2.50.
Mogu Mogu, the viral drinks brand renowned for its unique and delicious nata de coco beverages, has announced the launch of its most popular flavours in 1-litre multipacks.
Exclusively available to independent retailers via Dhamecha, the brand’s bestselling Lychee and Mango flavours – alongside Strawberry and Blackcurrant – are accessible in this high-demand new format.
The launch comes off the back of research commissioned by the soft drinks sensation which found that over a third (36%) of Mogu Mogu shoppers would like to see multipacks in store, while almost a third (29%) also want to see their favourite flavours in 1-litre bottles on shop shelves.
Combining the two by launching six-packs of its largest format, Mogu Mogu aims to reinforce its position as the UK’s fastest-growing soft drinks brand [NielsenIQ, 52 w/e 09.03.24].
“2024 was a bumper year for us. We broke into the Top 10 in Juice Drinks by delivering a quarter of the segment’s growth over the previous two years – more than any competitor. This is largely thanks to our ‘Drink Now’ single formats, which have always been our heartland,” said Indy Jhalli, national account manager at ASCO Foods.
“But there’s been a noticeable shift towards at-home consumption occasions and our shoppers have been rallying for larger versions of their favourite flavours which they can stock up on and share in front of the telly or around the dinner table.
“We’ve worked with Dhamecha to make sure our new 1-litre six-packs are available in-depot, just in time for the January rush, when a huge influx of shoppers are opting for refreshing soft drinks above other beverages to tide them through the month.”
Daniel Spruds, Buyer at Dhamecha Group added: “Mogu Mogu is continuing to go from strength to strength within Dhamecha’s business. Building on this, the introduction of a 1-litre multipack format extends Mogu Mogu’s horizon to better access the growing number of at-home occasions. We are extremely pleased to deliver this new pack format into 2025.”
The Mogu Mogu 1-litre six-packs (RRP: £3.49 per bottle) are available exclusively to retailers via Dhamecha in four major depots: Wembley, Croydon, Barking, and Leicester.
Leading ice-cream tub brand Ben & Jerry’s has announced the launch of two new indulgent SKUs - Bohemian Raspberry and Brookies & Cream Sundae.
Bohemian Raspberry is a non-dairy music-inspired raspberry SKU celebrating 50 years of one of the world’s most iconic songs. Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae is an innovative new flavour, inspired by the flavour combination of brownies and cookies to create a brookie, bringing the bakery-favourite to the ice cream category for the very first time.
Ben & Jerry’s Bohemian Raspberry launches in partnership with Queen and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the band’s iconic song, Bohemian Rhapsody. The collaboration flavour of Bohemian Raspberry is part of Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy range, made with the brand’s oat-based non-dairy recipe. The new tub includes fudgy brownies and rich raspberry swirls tapping into the growing trend for berry and raspberry flavours which saw more than 18 million searches in 2024. Proceeds from Bohemian Raspberry will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which helps fund the global fight against AIDS.
Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae is the latest addition to Ben and Jerry’s successful Sundaes range, which has grown 32 per cent YoY, bringing together the ice cream innovators two most popular flavours (Cookie Dough & Chocolate Fudge Brownie) into one legendary Sundae. The new SKU features creamy vanilla ice cream packed full of fudgy brownie-style cookie dough, golden cookie swirls, and white ampersand chunks, perfectly showcasing how the best things are even better when they’re together.
“We're thrilled to introduce two fantastic new ice creams from Ben & Jerry's. First up, Bohemian Raspberry is making a comeback, as a non-dairy flavour. We first launched Bohemian Raspberry back in 2007 after a fan’s suggestion, and what could be more rock ‘n’ roll than bringing it back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody,” Flo Howell, country business lead at Ben & Jerry’s UK, commented.
“Brookies & Cream Sundae embodies our belief that good things are even better together. Combining cookies and brownies was a no-brainer for us, and consumer testing showed it’s a hit.”
Like all Ben & Jerry’s products, the new SKUs are made with Fairtrade Certified ingredients including vanilla, sugar and cocoa.
Both Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae and Ben & Jerry’s Bohemian Raspberry are available in the grocery, convenience and wholesale channels from this month.