Florette, the UK prepared salad specialist is predicting increased sales this summer for the category, which is gearing up to benefit from the opportunities presented by the warmer weather and the FIFA™ World Cup.
Elaine Smith, Florette Marketing Manager, explains: “The summer months are our peak sales period – when half of all bagged salad annual sales are secured – as this is the time when consumers traditionally enjoy the key salad occasions of barbecues and summer socialising, with the convenience of a bagged salad as the ideal accompaniment.
“We expect this sales growth to be amplified in summer 2010 due to the impact of the FIFA World Cup™ – with football fans turning match days into occasions for outdoor dining, providing an opportunity for further category growth.”
Florette’s Mixed and Crispy (which is the UK’s No.1 selling bagged salad) ranges lend themselves well to summer dining due to their versatile usage. Their mix of crisp and sweet lettuce leaves is ideal for serving as an accompaniment to any meal base and suits all tastes, which is vital when entertaining. The company will be pushing sales of these ranges through the use of volume-added promotions such as 25% extra free, with the resulting 350g packs designed to specifically target the ‘family-sized’ needs of summer entertaining.
The brand has also ramped up its advertising support in 2010, spending £3m on TV advertising as well as a heavyweight PR programme, consumer press advertising and in-store promotional activity.
Elaine continues: “This investment, combined with our growing consumer base (5 million consumers) and our brand credentials of freshness, quality and taste will continue to drive our performance in the short and longer term.
“We have also created a groundbreaking first for the category ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup™, with the launch of the official England Three Lions Salad. In a licensing deal brokered by CPLG Sport on behalf of The FA, this new, fresh produce product creates an exciting first for the produce category and carries the Three Lions crest, a universally recognised symbol of the English football team.
“This innovative new product will encourage considerable additional purchase during this key summer selling period, while also drawing in new consumers to trade up into the bagged salad category. We want consumers to think of it as the ‘must-have’ addition to their tournament shopping basket.”
The brand is already reaping the rewards of this increased marketing activity. While the market remained flat in the first quarter of 2010 with growth at just 0.4 per cent, Florette sales increased by £2.6m – a growth of 26.2 per cent in the first 12 weeks of the year.
For further information on Florette visit www.florette.com
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