Shoppers flock to sweet treats inspired by US trends, Mr Kipling owner says
The St Albans-based owner of brands including Mr Kipling and Bisto said there were signs of shoppers switching back to brands.
Branded sales across the group grew by 1.2% to £216 million over the 13 weeks to June 28, compared with the same period a year ago.
This was driven by an 11.34% jump in sales of its sweet treat branded products including Mr Kipling and Cadbury cakes.
Mr Kipling birthday cake tarts, inspired by snack trends in the US, and newly launched 'lunchbox' cake slices helped draw in new shoppers, the company said.
Chief executive Alex Whitehouse said the uptick in branded sales was 'driven by the strength of our innovation programme with new product ranges such as Mr Kipling birthday cake tarts performing very strongly, as we brought to Britain a trend that is particularly popular in the US'.
'We expect branded revenue growth to build through the year, as we launch further new products, such as Fuel10K yoghurt and granola pots,' he added.
However, revenues from its grocery products declined by 2.7% over the latest period.
Demand for items such as gravy, stock and soup were impacted by warmer-than-usual temperatures, Premier Foods said.
It pointed to new product launches such as The Spice Tailor rolling out Mexican kits and Bisto bringing out peri-peri gravy to attract more younger consumers.
Meanwhile, non-branded grocery revenues declined by 8.8% year-on-year, which Premier Foods said partly reflected consumers switching to brands.
Premier Foods said it was expecting sales growth from its portfolio of brands to build throughout the financial year.
It is also continuing to target cost-cutting across the business in a bid to bolster profits.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Death of the British summer holiday job: Hospitality job postings fall by more than 20,000 in a year as industry blames Rachel Reeves' Budget
Rachel Reeves ' budget has been blamed for killing the British summer holiday job with hospitality postings falling by more than 20,000 in a year. The drastic reduction comes despite a booming tourism industry which saw visitors in England spending £48.4 billion on day visits in 2024, a six per cent rise from the previous year. Job postings for temporary hospitality work is down 25% year-on-year, with 22,369 fewer unique postings for jobs this year compared to last, according to data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). In 2024 there were 88,414 hospitality jobs on offer, but that fell markedly to 66,045 in a single year. Meanwhile, the number of tourism jobs have also been largely reduced. This year there have been just 15,650 unique unique job postings, a 14 per cent drop from the 18,118 last year. The fall in employment opportunities will largely impact students and teenagers looking for their first jobs and will threaten the temporary job market as schools and universities break up for the summer, according to UKHospitality, a trade body for the industry. It will put at the risk the skills provided by having hospitality as a first job, they claim. Allen Simpson, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: 'This is the time when hospitality businesses would be frantically hiring staff for the busy summer months, when the sector expects to welcome families to their hotels, and serve millions of people with ice cream on the beach, fish and chips on the pier, and cold pints in the pub garden. 'I know from personal experience how important hospitality summer jobs are for getting young people experience of work, however hiring this year has fallen off dramatically, with 22,000 fewer jobs available compared to last year. 'It is sadly reflective of the impact we have seen from increased costs over the past nine months – less employment, less opportunity and less growth in the economy. The reduction in hiring comes after Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves hiked the National Insurance rates for employers. The October budget also lowered the threshold for when employers must start paying the tax, as she looked to raise around £20 billion. It has resulted in £3.4bn in additional annual cost for hospitality businesses, with 84,000 job losses, UKHospitality estimates. Mr Simpson added: 'Unless the Government acts, we could well be seeing the death of the great British summer job. That's not good for the economy, for businesses, or for the people that need this flexible work during the summer. 'We need to see action at the Budget to reverse this damage. That starts with fixing NICs, lowering business rates and cutting VAT for hospitality businesses.' Neil Carberry, REC Chief Executive, said: 'Hospitality is one of the UK's biggest entry points into work, but right now, we are shutting people out before they even get a foot in the door. 'A drop of over 22,000 job postings as we reach the height of the summer season is not just a staffing gap, it is a red flag for the wider economy. It puts recruiters, hospitality businesses and customers under massive pressure to make the most of the short-lived English summer. 'We cannot keep loading new costs onto employers if we want vibrant high streets, thriving pubs and strong local economies.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Man Utd tour diary: Ratcliffe seeks funding for £2bn stadium and players trialling cooling jackets
Manchester United have been busy exploring potential investment opportunities in the US for their new £2bn stadium project. United want to knock down Old Trafford and build a new 100,000 capacity stadium on surrounding land that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe hopes will become a landmark to rival the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Ratcliffe is hoping to drum up private investment in the ambitious plan and executives from the club attended a sports investment conference in New York on Friday afternoon. A variety of Wall Street investment banks, pension funds and other US investors in infrastructure were at the Rockefeller Plaza to hear Lord Coe and United chief operating officer Collette Roche spell out the club's vision for a new world leading stadium as the centrepiece of one the UK's biggest ever regeneration projects. Coe, who headed up the Old Trafford regeneration taskforce at Ratcliffe's request and is now chair-designate of the newly established Mayoral Development Corporation for the project, gave a short address at the conference hosted by the British Consulate-General in New York. Roche was a guest speaker during a 40 minute discussion dubbed 'Beyond the Stadium: Placemaking & the Power of Sport in Urban Regeneration' that also involved Everton chief executive Angus Kinnear. Everton have just moved into a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The Placemaking: Investing in Sports Real Estate in the UK conference also featured addresses from Stacy Sonnenberg, head of global sports finance at Goldman Sachs, David J. Adelman, a partner at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and executive vice president and COO of Delaware North Amy Latimer, and opportunities to network. United have drawn inspiration from a number of major US sporting project, including the SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park development in Los Angeles and the Chicago Bears NFL outfit's Burnham Park project. Old Trafford executives are due to meet with counterparts from the Bears later next week before the squad fly to Atlanta for the final leg of their US tour. United remain in discussions with Freightliner about purchasing land adjacent to Old Trafford to unlock the full potential of the site they intend to redevelop. Cooling jacket innovation United are using their US tour to trial new high tech cooling jackets that are expected to be in widespread use at next summer's World Cup. The club's performance department have teamed up with kit suppliers Adidas to test the eye-catching cooling strategy. United's players will wear the silver spaceman style adidas CLIMACOOL system jackets, which insulate the cold inside, after the warm up and at half time of games on their US tour to help them keep cool. Extreme temperatures were a significant concern at the recent Club World Cup in the US and are likely to remain an issue at next summer's World Cup finals in the country. Ways are being explored to protect players from the heat and maximise performance and there is an expectation of the cooling jackets becoming widely utilised at the 48-team tournament where a number of games are likely to kick off in the middle of the day when temperatures are at their highest. They have already been trialled in cycling and Formula 1. United's lead physical performance coach Charlie Owen and head of physical performance Ed Leng showed off the jackets and explained their benefit to the players at the start of their training session at Chicago's Soldier Field on Friday. A heatwave in Chicago saw temperatures exceed 100F in midweek. Adidas said: 'The adidas CLIMACOOL System has been designed to help support athlete endurance and performance in hot conditions. 'After bringing the innovation to elite motorsport earlier this year we will provide the jackets to our key partners in football.' United are due to face West Ham at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium – which will host next summer's World Cup final – on Sunday before returning to Chicago where they are set to face Bournemouth. Temperatures for both games are expected to be high. Their final game of the Premier League Summer Series is against Everton in Atlanta but that will be played at the indoor air-conditioned Mercedes Benz Stadium. Cunha's Cantona vibes It was Omar Berrada, the United chief executive, who suggested there was an air of Eric Cantona, the club's legendary former France forward, about Matheus Cunha. 'He's a player that I think fans are going to love,' Berrada told the United We Stand fanzine last month. 'I think he's going to lift people off their seats. He's got a bit of a swagger about him that people are going to really like. Dare I say, [Eric] Cantona-esque.' Some players cannot cope with the Old Trafford pressure cooker, others thrive off it and if the early impressions of Cunha are anything to go by, the Brazilian appears to have found the right home. The £62.5m signing from Wolves looked non-plussed when asked about the pressure and scrutiny he may face, insisting pressure was a 'privilege' and that he welcomes it. Having the responsibility for helping to 'put the club in the perfect times again' was, Cunha said, 'a challenge that I want to do for my career.' Revamped Carrington has its own barbers United are set to hold an opening ceremony for their newly revamped Carrington training ground on August 8, a week before they kick off the new Premier League season at home to Arsenal. The £50m project has taken a year to complete with the training centre remodelled to maximise the performance environment. There has been a huge emphasis on improving the so-called 'flows' but the facility also includes a barbers. 25 not not for United cameramen Two of United's popular camera operators Noel Grice and Keith Rheade celebrated 25 years of working for the club on Friday. The pair, who both started in the same week in 2000, the year after the club's historic Treble success, have been busy working on the US tour.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Could Britain's most popular car of all time return?
It was officially axed only two years ago but speculation has been brewing that Britain's most popular car name of all time could make a comeback. Almost five million examples were snapped up by UK drivers during its 47-year availability between its arrival in 1976 to the end of its production in July 2023. So, it's unsurprising to see numerous reports talking up a return for Ford's Fiesta. And despite gradually disappearing from showrooms over the last 24 months, roughly 1.5 million are still used on our roads today - more than any other motor. Loved by learners, collected by enthusiasts and popular among senior motorists; this is a name that is deeply ingrained in hearts of drivers of all ages and passion levels for cars. If the nameplate is to make a dramatic reappearance, it will surely be stamped onto a very different vehicle to the one we've known and loved for decades. Without question, if Ford is to bring the Fiesta name back, it will not be used for a combustion-engine model. And the brand's existing deal with another car-making giant could fast track its return as it has done former iconic names associated to the brand with the blue oval badge. Ford-VW deal could be key to Fiesta comeback Ford and Volkswagen currently have an agreement in place. It sees Volkswagen granted access to its rival's commercial vehicle platforms - like that of the Transit - in return for sharing its electric vehicle architecture. The tie-up has already sparked the return of the Explorer nameplate as well as the highly-contentious return of the Capri badge in 2024 after a near 40-year hiatus. Both are underpinned by VW platforms, with the pair sharing DNA with the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 respectively. Volkswagen's head of sales and marketing, Martin Sander, who left Ford to join the German automotive powerhouse, told Auto Express that the collaboration with Ford on EVs has already proven to be 'very, very, very successful,' and suggested the partnership could extend into the future. During a recent interview, he told the automotive title that he did 'not want to rule out' any future opportunities to 'share technology again'. And VW's plans for smaller models could potentially instigate a return of the Fiesta nameplate. Volkswagen's 2026 EV the ideal Fiesta candidate Volkswagen is due to launch a compact ID.2 in 2026 - and a year later, an even smaller ID.1 is scheduled to follow. While Ford itself has not signalled the possibility of building a new entry-level electric hatchback smaller in dimension to its Puma Gen-E, Auto Express has hinted that the Fiesta name would be a logical option if the larger of these two EVs were part of the shared-platform arrangement. Ford has also said it is 'confident in its ability to compete in the right segments' - and currently with no small models at all, this could be a possibility. The ID.2 - based on the ID.2all Concept revealed in 2023 - is a mere 18mm longer than the last-generation Fiesta sold in Britain and too shares a practical five-door layout. As such, it seems the perfect fit for a reborn battery-powered Fiesta. The VW ID.2all concept was unveiled in Germany in 2023. It previewed the ID.2, which bosses said will cost no more than €25,000 - that's £22,000 - when it hits showrooms in 2026 Should Volkswagen and Ford's collaboration continue, the ID.2 appears to be the ideal fit for a rebadged Ford carrying the Fiesta name The ID.2 - based on the dimensions of the ID.2all Concept revealed in 2023 (left) - is a mere 18mm longer than the last-generation Fiesta sold in Britain (right) and too shares a practical five-door layout The specs: VW ID.2all concept However, questions will remain around whether VW is willing to let a genuine rivals take sales away from its own cars - as well as spin-off variants with other Volkswagen Group brands, with the Cupra Raval and Skoda Epiq also utlising the ID.2's ingredients. We put the question to Ford, who delivered a rather blunt - but inconclusive - response. 'We don't comment on any future product programs,' a spokesperson told us. Ford has only one model that could qualify for UK's new Electric Car Grant What could also accelerate Ford's appetite to bring smaller EVs to market is the recent announcement of the UK Government's Electric Car Grant. This will be available to models priced under £37,000. However, brands also need to meet specific manufacturing emissions criteria in order to qualify for the full £3,750 subsidy - and even a lower £1,500 allowance. While Chinese brands are expected to be excluded due to their heavy reliance on coal power stations for manufacturing, there are some European marques that are expected to have a number of eligible vehicles below this price point. Not Ford, though. Only the Puma Gen-E is listed below the £37k threshold. Explorer, Capri and Mustang Mach-E are all steeper. It is currently unknown which EV models will be accepted into the scheme, though the DfT exclusively revealed to This is Money that the initial list of eligible battery-powered cars would be shared before 11 August. Farewell Fiesta: Ford made its last Fiesta in the summer of 2023 as the US brand signalled the end of the road for Britain's most-bought car of all time that has been in production for 47 years The Ford factory in Cologne (pictured left) produced its final Fiesta on 7 July 2023. Images of the last car built have circulated on social media. Every member of the team on the assembly line and working on Fiesta at the Ford factory signed the model Former Ford Europe GM - now Volkswagen's head of sales and marketing - Martin Sander (centre) is seen here with workers on the Fiesta production line in Cologne the day before assembly of the small hatchback ended Do you want to see the Fiesta nameplate make a comeback? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below... The final Ford Fiesta emerged from the brand's Cologne factory in Germany on 7 July. Having first arrived in 1976 and been sold across seven different generations, the plucky small car has topped Britain's annual sales chart 16 times and leads the Cortina and Escort as the nation's all-time favourite model. It is still the most common car on our roads today and remains a staple of Britain's streets. Ford confirmed to This is Money in summer 2023 that the last two Fiestas off the line have been kept by the company. One - which was signed by the whole factory workforce when it came off the assembly line - is retained in its international fleet in Germany while the final right-hand-drive model has formed part of Ford UK's heritage collection.
