New Quorn owner Exponent Private Equity has laid out plans to grow the meat-free market leader into a £300m brand within 10 years.

The company, which bought Quorn along with Cauldron from Premier Foods last January, said it planned to invest in NPD, increased distribution, a refocused promotional strategy and a TV ad campaign to “increase relevance of Quorn as an everyday brand”.

“Quorn Foods is approaching 2012 with a revamped strategy and major brand investment,” said Julian Cooke, head of category management for Quorn Foods.

“We will be increasing our distribution even more, driving innovation into the category and placing more focus on promotional strategy. We will also be working with retailers to redesign the fixture.”

Exponent has already turned around the fortunes of both Quorn and Cauldron. Following an 8% slump in value sales in 2010, Quorn grew 4.7% to £119.7m last year, while Cauldron reversed an 11% decline to post a 12.1% uplift to £13.3m [SymphonyIRI 52w/e 29 October 2011].

Both brands have benefited from an increase in the number of distribution points over the past year, Quorn’s rising 6% and Cauldron’s 18.5%.

A packaging revamp was planned for Quorn this year to “improve visibility in-store and make the fixture easier to navigate”, Cooke said.

The revamp would be backed by a £7m TV ad push.

Focus on Meat-Free p59

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