Gü is investing £4.5m in a rebrand in a bid to double its global business by 2025.
It will also launch four new SKUs – Inspirations Brookie, Inspirations Salted Caramel Cookies & Cream, Plant Zillionaire and Salted Caramel Melting Middle – into supermarkets over the coming weeks.
Inspirations Brookie comprises a crumbled cookie layer topped with a fudgy chocolate brownie and finished with a mascarpone vanilla cream.
Inspirations Salted Caramel Cookies & Cream, meanwhile, boasts a double chocolate cookie dough base topped with a double caramel cream layer, finished with caramelised biscuit pieces.
Both desserts go on sale in Asda on 29 August, followed by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in September (rsp: £3.75/2x81g-2x84g).
Plant Zillionaire is a vegan take on the brand’s Zillionaire cheesecake. It comprises layers of sprinkles, chocolate ganache, caramel cheesecake, caramel sauce and a biscuit base.
Salted Caramel Melting Middle, meanwhile – which is billed as the “ultimate” salted caramel dessert – contains a “soft crust” that gives way to an “oozing” melted centre.
Both will roll into Tesco and Sainsbury’s on 11 September (rsp: £3.75/2x91g-2x95g). Salted Caramel Melting Middle will also hit shelves at Morrisons and the Co-op in the following months.
All four SKUs – designed to shake up the Friday night treat occasion – were “certainly more interesting than chocolate or ice cream”, said Gü.
Cookie-brownie hybrid dessert Inspirations Brookie was the “standout” innovation, as it took inspiration from current social media trends, the brand added. At the time of writing, videos using the hashtag #brookie had gained almost 50 million views on TikTok.
Gü said it was “proud to bring this gooey trend to the shelf”.
The “luxe brand refresh” would reflect Gü’s positioning as a premium treat and appeal to customers” in need of indulgence”, it said.
Gü aimed to increase its retail sales value from £70.7m [Nielsen, MAT w/e 26 February 2022] to £90m by October 2023 through “impressive investment in brand, people and innovation”, it added.
While other brands were “making drastic cuts”, Gü was “undertaking its most ambitious growth journey to date”, said CMO Anthony Wells.
“We have our sights set on doubling the size of the business over the next three years and are equipped with the investment, plan and talent to deliver.
“Through the new premium brand positioning and delicious innovation, Gü will be an exciting destination for customers wanting a more indulgent treat to enjoy on the sofa,” said Wells.
The investment comes from private equity firm Exponent, which bought the posh dessert brand from Noble Foods last year.
Although the price of the takeover was undisclosed, City sources told The Grocer it was in the region of £150m.
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