Chicken Tonight and Ragu to Undergo Re-Design following sale to Symington’s
Symington’s said its plans are to revitalise sales of the flagging brands by revamping their image and their position in the market. The branding and packaging of Ragu will be redesigned in a bid to highlight its Italian-American heritage and achieve greater stand out better on-shelf.
Unilever has given its Chicken Tonight and Ragu ranges over to Symington’s after almost a year of putting the “unfashionable sauce brands” up for sale.
Symington’s acquired the UK rights to the brands while Unilever retains the brands in all other markets.
Unilever’s Dutch factory in Oss will continue to produce both brands for at least the next three years, meaning no staff will be forced to move to Symington’s as a result.
Unilever put the brands up for sale back in September 2010 following a strategic review of their ranges but until now they were disappointed with the lack of interest they received.
The deal with Symington’s follows their acquisition of salad crouton brand La Rochelle last month and is predicted to bring the Leeds-based company’s annualised gross sales to about £150m.
Symington’s said its plans are to revitalise sales of the flagging brands by revamping their image and their position in the market. The branding and packaging of Ragu will be redesigned in a bid to highlight its Italian-American heritage and achieve greater stand out better on-shelf.
Its recipes will also be taken upmarket, hoping to attract a wider consumer following and ridding the brand of its “unfashionable”, “budget” brand associations.
Chicken Tonight will also be getting a revamp and increased NPD.
Chief executive David Salkeld said: “We have a proven track record of taking on heritage brands, rejuvenating them and introducing new product developments.
“Both Campbell’s and Golden Wonder had latent value, which we breathed new life into in 2011 and 2009 respectively.”
Symington’s marketing director Henrik Pade added: “Our aim is to redevelop the ranges to ensure that they are real alternatives to the market leaders in the cooking sauce category.
“We want them to perform as challenger brands and hope consumers will become loyal to the brands once again, with the sauces forming an integral part of a family’s weekly shop.”
Source: Symington’s
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