Baker Street will launch a new range of Original Burger Buns and Classic Hot Dog Rolls into Tesco this month, securing a permanent listing in 126 stores.
In its new look packaging, Baker Street’s ‘Drive Thru Classics’ range is designed to cater to the growing ‘fakeaway’ trend, driven by 12 months of COVID-19 restrictions. The brand launched its Stollen exclusively with Tesco for Christmas 2020 and after driving value sales of more than £1.4mn, the brand leveraged seasonal success to secure a permanent listing.
Jeremy Gilboy, founder of St Pierre Groupe, which owns the Baker Street brand commented: “Baker Street is perfectly placed to fill a gap in the market. The pandemic has driven huge shifts in consumer attitudes to all things, but especially food. A combination of anxious consumers retreating to comfort foods and familiar classics, and the closure of the UK’s restaurants has driven demand for the at-home ‘fakeaway’.
“Whilst they might be looking for comfort food, shoppers still need quality products that are fit for purpose. Baker Street’s burger buns are built for burgers and our hot dog rolls are designed to handle the heftiest of fillings. The nation’s favourite fast-food restaurants don’t use ‘rolls’ for burger buns – and with good reason. We worked closely with Tesco to develop a proposition that would drive sales and the extended-life of the Baker Street range will be a real help as we head into what’s set to be the biggest BBQ season on record”.
Baker Street has grown 30% year on year and is celebrating five consecutive years of double-digit growth, with a brand value in excess of £25 million. Alongside its quality proposition, the business maintains that the extended-life offer holds key appeal.
In fact, research from Mintel shows that two in five (37%) people will buy more longer-life food and drink products in the future, as a result of the ongoing health crisis (Mintel June 2020).
Gilboy continued: “Consumer attitudes towards fresher for longer products are changing but availability and shelf-life isn’t just key for consumers. We know, from conversations with our retail partners, that forecasting during the great British summer is a challenge every year. Add to that the uncertainty that played a part with COVID in summer 2020 and the feedback from the trade when it came to forecasting was ‘we know we’ll get it wrong, it’s just how much we get it wrong by’.
“Baker Street’s extended life products – whether it’s sliced bread, burger buns or hot dog rolls – ensures on-shelf availability, reduces the risk of wastage and offers a quality product that’s always there for the consumer.”
Food waste continues to be a hot topic for UK retailers, but is a growing concern amongst consumers, too. Research from Baker Street recently found that 68% of people place importance on buying foods that help to reduce food waste and 51% of consumers claimed they are more likely to purchase a product that is long-life.
Baker Street Classic Burger Buns (6 pack) and Original Hot Dog Rolls (4 pack) will retail at Tesco at £1.29. The new-look packaging will be rolled out to all retailers during the second half of 2021.
Image credit: Baker Street
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Media contact
Kiran Grewal
Editor, International Bakery
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 922
Email: editor@in-bakery.com
