Aunt Bessie’s Quick Cook Rice Pudding Mix
Who: Aunt Bessie’s
What: Aunt Bessie’s Quick Cook Rice Pudding Mix
Where: Hot-eating desserts
How much: £2.50 for 150g
Why: Last year, sales of traditional hot desserts rose in Aldi, Lidl and bargain stores [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 24 May 2015], while the overall market for puddings remained flat. This rice pudding mix forms part of the expanding Aunt Bessie’s dessert portfolio. The brand, which recently spent £6m on sponsorship deals, says the product should be combined with milk and either microwaved or heated in a saucepan to make three servings. Cinnamon and nutmeg flavours are also available.
Consumer verdict: More than half our panel considered this a new and different product, but only a third felt it was better than other products. There was a clear divide between the North, where it was described as “creamy and homemade”, and the Midlands and South, where consumers said it was “too milky” with a “rubbery texture”. Though our testers claimed the product was “easy to make”, it scored below the category norm of 39, with 42% saying they’d never buy it.
Pre-trial purchase: 20%
Post-trial purchase: 31%
Better than what’s out there: 33%
New and different: 57%
Overall score: 25/50
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