Premier Foods boss Gavin Darby has revealed his plans for the company’s second-string brands.
The company would maintain the strategy introduced by his predecessor and focus on its eight ‘power brands’ - including Hovis, Sharwood’s (see below) and Bisto, he stressed. But it was now looking at the grocery market from a category perspective rather than a brand one.
“A category focus enables us to leverage our entire portfolio rather than just focus on our key brands,” he told The Grocer this week. “Many of our brands aren’t playing for the first team - and some probably never will - but they have a place in the business,” he added. “They are still very strong brands - many rivals would kill to have a brand like Cadbury Cakes in its portfolio.”
NPD such as ice cream-flavoured Cadbury Mini Rolls in March was boosting sales of the brand in all channels, he said.
Brands such as Smash, Bird’s and Paxo also had a role to play, he maintained, particularly in c-stores, discounters and round-pound stores.
He pointed out that Premier had developed new products under these brands specifically for the discounters. It is set to roll out six new SKUs aimed at that sector - including a hot chocolate drink under the Marvel skimmed milk powder brand, a Bird’s rice pudding, and Paxo gravies. Most will have a £1 rsp.
Darby was speaking on the day Premier revealed a 50% hike in trading profits for the first half, with total grocery brand sales up 1.3% - driven by the 4% hike in power brands.
Premier said brands now made up 90% of its grocery sales following an 18.5% fall in private-label revenue. “We have let some non-profitable private-label contracts go but are still very open to private-label business,” said Darby.
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