British business booms in the festive season

While the nation tucked into turkey and lay bloated on the sofa, FFB's international network was hard at work promoting British food and drink companies around the world.  

 

New listings

• Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFoB) – FFB Spain has exceeded expectations for DFoB’s Cadog Cheese. The Welsh cheese has not only been listed by a national distributor in the retail sector, it has also been listed in the foodservice sector. This is a particular achievement given the fierce competition between large British cheese producers in the Spanish market.
• Frederick’s Smoothies – large national Danish retailer Fakta has listed Frederick’s Smoothies three-packs. The product appealed because it does not contain artificial additives or colourings.
• Quorn – Marlow Foods have changed the pack size of their Quorn fillets from 460g to 312g. This brings them in line with other Quorn products – mince and pieces – which makes them easier to promote.
• Farne Salmon & Trout – on the strength of their sales from their listing in frozen home delivery catalogue eismann, Farne has been listed for eismann’s Easter catalogue.
• Geeta’s – Tegut, a regional multiple near Frankfurt, will be listing five Geeta’s products (two chutneys and three ‘Spice & Stir’ products) in 130 stores initially.
• Quorn – the new Quorn Frankfurter has been listed in Vi stores in Sweden.
• Key Country Foods – Key Country Foods will shortly begin retailing in Algarve Aviludo stores.
• Quorn – big news is that Coop, which was the first store in which Quorn was listed in Sweden and has always sold the product under its own brand, will sell the products under the Quorn brand from now on. This will mean that from February 14 Quorn products will be listed in Coop, five of which are new. This is a great endorsement of the power of the Quorn brand in Sweden.

Meeting the buyer

• Carrefour private label – FFB Spain continues to work with Carrefour Spain to launch a number of British companies in Carrefour under the Carrefour brand.
• Indulgence Patisserie – Indulgence Patisserie’s premium desserts will be presented to the category manager at Swedish retailer Ica. FFB Nordic believes there is strong potential for the product in Ica’s 60 hypermarkets.
• Tranfield of Cumbria – The company are working with FFB Portugal to re-engage the market after their exports were affected by the Foot and Mouth restrictions.
• Quality Meat Scotland - FFB Italy have arranged an itinerary for a group of Scottish farmers on a learning journey in the Italian market. The group, ‘Men in Beef’, will visit farms, marketing consortiums which promote Italian meat and retail outlets to further their understanding of how meat is sold and promoted in Italy and how Scotch beef and lamb can fit into this.

PR activities

• Lady Chef 2008 – the press lunch and award of the 2008 Belgian Lady Chef competition took place on 16 and 17 January. The award-winning chef, Arabelle Meirlaen of the restaurant "Li Cwerneu", prepared a meal of a Quorn starter, Isle of Shuna mussels and English lamb.
• Single Malt Club – The Single Malt Club will be present at the Identità Golose event in Milan on 27-30 January. The event will focus on British food, drink and chefs. The SMC will be on hand to promote whisky.
• Single Malt Club – the SMC is involved in a charity promotion with the Lions Club in Italy.
• Kettle & McVities – FFB Italy are beginning their press campaign for Kettle Foods and McVities.
• British Cheese at Christmas – British cheese had a high profile in Nordic retailers over Christmas. There is a tradition of eating British cheese in the Christmas period.
• Lebensmittel Zeitung – FFB Germany brought leading German trade magazine Lebensmittel Zeitung to London to visit stores. The visit focussed on organic and whole foods and included an update on the UK market.
• Isle of Shuna – FFB Belgium brought six journalists to the Shetland Islands to celebrate the launch of Isle of Shuna mussels in Belgium on 17 January. Isle of Shuna’s entry into the market extends the Belgian mussel season by five months – a boon for the seafood-guzzling Belgians!
• Single Malt Club – FFB Portugal is preparing for the launch of Diageo’s Classic Malt range in February.
  

25 January 2008