An Allied Bakeries director has told British Baker of hopes to get Kingsmill bread back on Tesco shelves following its recent delisting.
Nick Law, operations director at Allied Bakeries, said he hoped this would not be it for Kingsmill in Tesco, naming products like its 50/50 loaf as being something consumers desired.
He also said that the baking industry needed to highlight the health benefits of bread products in a challenging market, but thought the atmosphere around bread was looking up.
Law explained: “We still have a huge amount of business with Tesco.
“These things tend to go through cycles; it’s a competitive market and I would hope at some point we’ll find a platform to get the Kingsmill brand back into Tesco as we have products like 50/50, which is the leading brand in the industry, and we would like to think that Tesco consumers would be looking to get them back on the shelves to offer them the full range of products.”
Law was also concerned that people were less aware of the health benefits of bread, but the media’s demonisation of the carb was slowing. He continued: “It’s a crowded food market and we have to make sure our voice gets heard and create products that will excite consumers and get them thinking about the nutritional benefits of bread.”
His comments come just a month after the products were delisted from Tesco stores as part of its new “volume-driven strategy”.
Despite this, the company has recently finished a £210m five-year programme across the Allied Bakeries portfolio.
The company has built new bread plants in Stockport, West Bromwich, Glasgow and London, and has now rounded off the project with the new breadline in Stevenage which is capable of producing 9,000 loaves per hour. As part of the investment, Allied built its new Thins factory in Glasgow, as well as a roll plant in West Bromwich.
Allied Bakeries’ parent company Associated British Foods has revealed its interim results for the 24 weeks ended 28 February.
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