Walsall cake manufacturer Perfection Foods will launch a series of new brands in the UK during the next 12 months.

The firm revealed the news exclusively to British Baker that it would be creating a mid-tier brand aimed at the UK’s supermarket chains, and a value line of bakery goods including large muffins and cake slabs, due to launch this September.

Perfection Foods has invested around £40,000 in the two new ranges so far, which forms part of an extensive re-branding move by the firm.

Gurdeep Singh Bath, director of exports at Perfection Foods, said: “The business has a lot of domestic projects on the go at the moment and all the new brands we are creating have huge potential when it comes to cake.

“The discount market is rapidly expanding, which you need to have a presence in, and the mid-tier market will always be around.”

Other brands due to launch in early 2013 include a foodservice line, an exports range, and a premium-tier brand of handmade products, targeted at the likes of Selfridges and John Lewis.

The firm has been developing the new brands in detail over the past two years through market research and collaborating with research and educational institutes, including Aston University and the University of Wolverhampton. It has also invested in a series of equipment to cope with the production of the new cake lines.

Singh Bath added: “It has been a lengthy process to develop all the new brands, as we want to make sure everything to do with the products, including the key messages, colour schemes and wording of branding, is on track.

“We have recruited tasting panels to make sure all our new products are spot-on, asking consumers what they like when it comes to taste, size and look.”

Perfection Foods produces and supplies cakes, muffins, cookies and flapjacks for the retail market, including Asda and Morrisons, as well as 80% of the UK wholesale sector.

The company has seen a 40% growth in business year-on-year and has recently opened its third manufacturing site in Leicester - a 110,000sq ft production facillity – with two additional sites based in Walsall and Wednesbury in the West Midlands.

Export market

Perfection Foods is looking to build on the success of its exports division, which now accounts for 25% of its overall business.

The firm’s dedicated exports manufacturing site in Walsall, which was opened in February by Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, is set to create around 70 new jobs.

Perfection Foods currently exports its products to 10 different markets in Europe, including Scandinavia and Norway, and has been supplying to regions in North Africa in the last six months. Looking ahead, it is aiming to target new markets in South America.

Singh Bath said: “One of the reasons why we have been so successful is that we will manufacture delicate products, such as iced cupcakes, in the West Midlands and are able to ship it all over the world.

“Exports account for around a quarter of our total business and this is going to be growing quite rapidly soon, especially now that we have invested in a third production site in Leicester, as well as having the dedicated production facility in Walsall.”

The firm recently won the International and Innovation and Enterprise categories at the Black Country Asian Business Association Awards.

Topics