Pladis - Jacob's Mini Cheddars Smoked Cheddar and Mini Cheddars Cheddar & Roasted Tomato  2100x1400

Source: Pladis

Pladis has unveiled two new ultra-cheesy additions to its Jacob’s Mini Cheddars range.

The bakery supplier said its new limited-edition Mini Cheddars Smoked Cheddar and Mini Cheddars Cheddar & Roasted Tomato are aimed at infusing extra flavour into retailers’ savoury snacking sales.

By dialling up the brand’s ‘baked with real cheese’ USP, the ‘Cheesy Specials’ duo is set to welcome a cohort of younger shoppers seeking bold, trending flavours, added Pladis.

Both variants have already hit the shelves at Tesco in multipacks of 6 x 23g bags (rsp: £1.75). Smoked Cheddar will also be launching in a 90g £1.25 price-marked packaging for independent retailers, while the range will be rolling out more widely nationwide across multiple grocery, convenience, and wholesale from April.

The Jacob’s brand is worth £82m, according to Nielsen Scantrack data for total coverage sales values on 22 February 2024. The latest launch follows a strong track record of successful flavour additions to the Mini Cheddars line-up, with the brand’s limited-edition NPD contributing £13.1m over the past three years alone.

An overwhelmingly successful, initially limited-edition launch of the Red Leicester variant back in 2017 saw it become not just a permanent addition to the Jacob’s Mini Cheddars core portfolio, but the brand’s second biggest flavour. More recently, a Cheese & Pickle flavour was introduced to the full-sized Jacob’s Cheddars range.

“We know from both our own research and the impressive, continued growth for Jacob’s Mini Cheddars, that cheddar-based flavours are some of the most popular among savoury snacking shoppers,” said Asli Akman, marketing director at Pladis UK&I. “The good news is, cheese is kind of our thing. And when you couple this with the fact Jacob’s Mini Cheddars is a top 10 bagged snacks brand, it’s safe to say we’re confident that we’ve hit the mark with our new extra cheesy range.

“To top this off, we’ve also made these latest launches available in two distinct formats to drive penetration within a whole host of occasions. With a classic multipack of six and a single-serve convenience channel-exclusive PMP to help independent retailers boost volumes, shoppers can enjoy a moment of cheeky, cheesy pleasure whether they’re opting for a new full-on flavour lunchtime snack, or grabbing an individual pack to munch on the move,” Akan added.

Pladis describes Jacob’s as one of the most iconic brands in Britain, with a history going back more than a century. To ensure it remains for another 100 years, however, the manufacturer revealed plans last November to address some current constraints at its production site in Aintree, Liverpool.

This included significant investment in the infrastructure while reducing the overall footprint of the factory, a move that could potentially result in around half of its 763-strong workforce made redundant.

Pladis also own bakery brands McVitie’s, Carr’s, Go Ahead!, Flipz, and BN, and invested £2m on a new warehouse to expand capacity at its Carlisle site last year.