Cheese is a vital category in Fresh & Chilled, and there’s lots for retailers and consumers to get excited about over coming months.
Fresh and Chilled seems to be where it’s at these days in local retailing, and few categories offer the volume and consistency of sales that cheese does. It finds its way into many shopper baskets.
Lactalis McLelland has announced a sponsorship deal for its Seriously and Président brands with Channel 4’s highly popular Come Dine With Me. The sponsorship, which runs for a year, is part of wider marketing campaigns aimed at raising awareness of both brands among key target audiences.
The initiative will give Seriously and President exposure on Channel 4 platforms, E4 and More 4, as well as the main channel. The sponsorship will see a 15-second bumper at the start of each episode, followed by five-second bumpers either side of each commercial break and a 10-second bumper at the end.
Mike Chatters, Sales Director for Lactalis McLelland, said: “We are delighted to announce the sponsorship of such a popular TV show, which provides a perfect fit for our Seriously and President brands. Come Dine With Me achieves strong coverage across our consumer portfolio and therefore delivers synergy with our core shopper.”
The Seriously brand, which includes Seriously Cheddar and Seriously Spreadable, continues to go from strength to strength. In the last 12 months, Seriously Cheddar has shown value growth of 74.3%, while Seriously Spreadable is also showing double digit growth of 12.7% in value terms [IRI, Mar 2018].
The brand unveiled a new look last year with a packaging makeover and new brand identity – across Cheddar and Spreadable sub-brands – to help broaden its appeal to families.
- Focus on top sellers from brands shoppers know and trust.
- Avoid duplication to ensure shoppers have more choice – stock a breadth rather than a depth of range.
- Ensure the fixture is always clean and well-stocked.
- Position best-selling lines in the best-selling location on the fixture (central on fixture, within shoppers’ eye line).
- Maximise fixture flow to help shoppers scan and shop the range by putting formats and brands together within subcategories.
- Increase visibility by front facing products rather than penny stacking.
- Use manufacturers’ POS to highlight products on the fixture.
- Meet the ‘Top-up’ mission – stock small packs vs. larger bulkier packs.
- Make the most of PMPs – shoppers perceive them as good value.
- Meet the ‘On the Go’ mission – stock cheese snacking lines with sandwiches/drinks.
The £28.7m Président brand, which operates across both cheese and butter categories, is performing well with growth of 10.9% in value and 1.5% in volume terms [IRI, Mar 2018]. Key products in the range include Président Brie, Président Camembert and Président Butter. The sponsorship of Come Dine With Me forms part of a £1.6m marketing campaign for the brand in 2018.
Also raising the profile of the category is Mondelēz International, the country’s top processed cheese manufacturer, with a 43% share of the total market [Nielsen, Dec 2017].
Its Philadelphia brand is the UK’s number one in the Cream Cheese subcategory with a 68% share. It returned to TV screens in January with a new campaign as part of a series of ads during 2018 which aims to inspire people to take the time to savour more moments in life and create delicious meals and moments with Philadelphia. The £5.3m campaign aims to inspire recipes for the lunch and dinner occasion, spanning across TV, press, digital and in-store activity.
The brand is also wrapping up its product offering with a fresh new packaging design across its whole range, aligning with the ‘savour the moment’ positioning.
Dairylea, another Mondelēz brand, is the UK’s favourite Processed Cheese, providing options for parents to offer their children for on-the-go, lunchbox and after school snacking occasions. The Snacking Kits subcategory is currently the key driver of growth within Processed Cheese, growing at 10% with Dairylea Lunchables having a 71% share and 4% annual growth [Nielsen, Dec 2017].
Innovation in Snacking Kits is a growth opportunity in 2018. Dunkers Sweet Chilli Baked Bites are aimed to excite younger consumers, the fulfilling, energy-boosting snack features sweet chilli flavour bites to dunk into creamy Dairylea cheese.
Also available are Dairylea Snackers Mini Oreo and Dairylea Snackers Mini Chocolate Cookies.
These were added to the Dairylea range, with an aim to excite consumers by introducing innovative on-the-go snack-packs each containing Dairylea cheese, crackers and satisfying cookie bites.
