Unilever is reformulating and revamping its Flora portfolio ahead of a new focus on sandwiches.

The company said it had invested about £30m in a new plant to enable Flora to be made using a new cool blending process. The process “preserves the natural goodness” of the canola, linseed and sunflower oil used in Flora spread.

New packs are rolling out to the multiples as of this month, highlighting the better taste, and improving shelf standout. In addition, Unilever will invest £10m on marketing activity for Flora in 2012, including a TV campaign in March.

Flora brand manager Alastair McKerrow said Unilever had decided to make a significant investment in Flora because of demand for “healthy, delicious” products.

The company now planned to further boost sales by encouraging consumers to use Flora in sandwiches, particularly at lunchtime, he said.

The revamp comes as Flora faces increased competition - this month Arla launched Lurpak Lightest Spreadable, a reduced-fat butter spread with a fat content comparable to Flora Light, and in October, Kerry Foods launched a Flora lookalike called Smart Health into Tesco.

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