Dairy Crest has moved production of its UHT version of Frijj from Spain to Austria, and has delayed moving the product to its Severnside plant in Gloucestershire by several months.
The company kicked off a trial run of UHT Frijj with Spanish manufacturer Iparlat last year, but transferred it to Austrian supplier Pinzgau this summer, after Iparlat changed owners. Iparlat last produced UHT Frijj in June, and production in Austria started in September.
Shortly after launching the trial in Spain last year, Dairy Crest said it intended to move production to Severnside, but a spokesman said this would now not happen until this time next year. Dairy Crest is in the process of ramping up capacity for its fresh Frijj lines at Severnside and wanted to allow those changes to “bed down” before moving UHT production, he added. “The trial has been successful, and we expect to be producing it in the UK about this time next year, slightly later than we originally anticipated.”
Dairy Crest remained committed to producing UHT Frijj in the UK, he stressed. “We would have liked to have found a UK supplier to help us continue the trial but were unable to.”
In its interim results for the six months to 30 September Dairy Crest reported sales of Frijj were down by 17% year on year. It said this was because it had cut promotional activity as it waited for capacity at Severnside to come on stream. Dairy Crest intends to produce a number of new Frijj formats at Severnside, including multipacks and a one-litre carton. It also recently rebranded its Frijj The Incredibles range to Frijj Supreme.
“We have been doing lots of work on Frijj, which we anticipate will give sales a significant boost, and we want to ensure all our short-term efforts are focused on making this a success,” the spokesman said.
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