Symington’s is taking the Ilumi free-from brand it acquired last year into stores for the first time.
Five of the brand’s ambient ready meals (rsp: £2.99/250g) and two gluten-free stir-fry sauces (£1.79/200g) are being rolled into Asda stores next week alongside new products developed in-house by Symington’s - a flavoured rice mix (rsp: £1.29/105g) and four rice noodle snack pots (£1.99/71g-75g).
The brand was designed to tap demand for convenient free-from savoury products, said the supplier, adding a recent survey commissioned in association with Coeliac UK showed 67% of the charity’s members found eating on the go difficult.
Leeds-based Symington’s, which produces ranges including Chicken Tonight and Ragú, bought Ilumi as part of its acquisition of Tanfield Foods for an undisclosed sum last October. The deal also included ready meal brand Look What We Found.
The Asda listing marks the in-store debut of Ilumi, which has until now been sold through foodservice and direct to consumers via the brand’s website. The Ilumi line-up includes soups and side dishes, with everything in the range free from gluten and milk-free.
“Ilumi has been quietly building up a presence among the free-from consumer community over the past two years, and boasts an impressive e-commerce offer and social media following,” said Sarah Bradley, managing director of Symington’s Consett site, where Ilumi is produced.
“We are ideally positioned to launch into the supermarket retail space,” she added. “With the free-from aisle dominated by bakery and sweet products, the Ilumi range brings something truly new to the category.”
Symington’s is backing the launch with an online push from October targeting Ilumi’s existing customer base, and plans to roll the brand out to other retailers later this year.
The total UK free-from market is worth £455m, up 27% on the previous year [Kantar 52 w/e 29 March 2015].
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