Pilgrim’s Food Masters is to retire its plant-based Taste & Glory brand as part of a push to further grow its Richmond portfolio in meat-free.
Launched by Pilgrim’s predecessor Kerry as Naked Glory in September 2019, the brand – which included products ranging from burgers to sausages, meatballs, mince and deli slices – was renamed Taste & Glory last June in a bid to better reflect its taste credentials.
Taste & Glory was the 10th-biggest brand in meat-free last year, with sales growing by 37.4% to £8.9m [The Grocer Top Products/NielsenIQ 52 w/e 11 September]. But in a message to followers on social media this week the brand said there wasn’t “quite enough room for us” in such a competitive market.
The announcement was met with disappointment by many Taste & Glory fans on social media. However, the “difficult” decision had been taken to allow Pilgrim’s to “simplify our ranges to continue delivering growth that is sustainable and that caters to what shoppers want and need”, a spokeswoman said.
“We are looking at how we can leverage this expertise and the power of our Richmond brand – which has been a runaway success in meat-free – to maintain the category momentum that our business has driven together with our customers,” she added.
With that in mind, Pilgrim’s this week also said three Taste & Glory lines – its No-Ham and No-Chicken deli slices, plus its Chargrilled No-Chicken Pieces – would move over to the Richmond portfolio.
Combined with a new meat-free BBQ sauce-flavoured sausage line and a meat-free back bacon product, marketing manager Chris Doe said the soya and wheat protein-based NPD would help Richmond maintain its strong momentum in the segment, with 60% of the brand’s meat-free spend incremental to the category [Kantar 52 w/e 23 January].
“We’ve already proven we can launch great tasting plant-based alternatives that respond to what consumers want. But we’ve also seen the Richmond brand is uniquely positioned to engage new shoppers, encouraging them to try plant-based products they wouldn’t normally put in their basket,” he added.
“These new launches showcase to all our customers that Richmond Meat-Free has big ambitions for the meat-free category this year.”
The back bacon and BBQ sausage lines started rolling out into Tesco this week (rsp: £2.50 each). A further rollout of the bacon in other retailers is expected in September, while the sausages will also go on sale in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose later this month.
Richmond’s new No-Ham deli slices started rolling out into Waitrose this week (rsp: £2), with both the No-Ham and No-Chicken slices also going on sale in Sainsbury’s from 27 April.
Meanwhile, the brand’s Chargrilled No-Chicken Pieces (rsp: £2.50), started rolling out to Morrisons and Waitrose this week, followed by Sainsbury’s on 27 April. Pilgrim’s Food Masters said a frozen format would also be available in Tesco and Asda in May and Sainsbury’s in June.
The supplier added that all launches would be supported with shopper marketing in-store and online, alongside meat-free activity in April on TV, VOD via social media.
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