Whitworth’s, one of Britain’s best loved baking ingredients brands,is ‘increasing its footprint’ in the snack market and came to Vendex intent upon making an impact in the vending industry.
Attending his first vending industry show, Dan Chesbrough, the company’s Out of Home Commercial Controller, expressed his eagerness to do business in our sector.
‘We’ve been increasingly aware over the past few years that people have been splitting down our bags of ingredients into snacks to take to work or out and about, so we’ve been evolving a range specifically for that market’, Dan told PV. ‘Our Whitworth’s Red and Silver Fruits range, with more than a dozen options on offer, is already selling over three-and-a-half million units a year, so it’s pretty established and as we develop the proposition the to support the Adult ‘healthy snacking’ category is which is seeing year on year growth of 9% and now worth over £316m.’
Innovation is the kernel of Whitworth’s NPD and the latest offering from the Wellingborough based outfit is a range of breakfast replacement products. ‘If you’ve missed breakfast, It’ll genuinely keep you going until lunchtime’, Dan said, ‘but there’s an indulgence cue in the range as well, with a couple of elements either chocolate coated or yoghourt coated. The key to any snack is of course taste. Taste has to be the lead.’
The PV taste experts were quick to confirm that Whitworth’s have that objective well and truly nailed. The word ‘yummy’ was oft heard as samples were appreciatively munched.
The company also has a ‘shots’ snacking range, comprising nuts, fruit and seeds, which Dan says ‘are a great alternative to a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar.’ He continued: ‘we know that people want to snack more healthily, but that option isn’t always available to them.’
‘We’ve been increasingly aware over the past few years that people have been splitting down our bags of ingredients into snacks to take to work or out and about’ – Dan Chesbrough
Not for much longer, if Dan can help it…
Whitworth’s were drawn to Vendex after a chance meeting with organiser Phil Reynolds at the Convenience Show. Phil rightly assured the company that demand in the vending industry for healthier products was rising rapidly.
‘We’re fairly new to this sector but we’re eager to expand with new customers into new markets and we’re here today to try to understand how we can work this proposition better within the vending business,’ Dan said.
Operators interested in discussing Whitworth’s vending offer should contact Dan by e-mail – chesbd@whitworth’s.co.uk – or call him on 01933 653000.
