Milling & Baking News - April 6, 2021 - 11

Business

Ferrara moves to build position
in specialty cookie category
CHICAGO - Ferrara, a related company of The Ferrero Group, is expanding its reach in the specialty cookies
category.
The company is distributing European favorite Delacre Fine Belgian Assorted Cookies and repositioning Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies in the
United States. Both brands have been
holiday favorites in the specialty cookies category. Now, Ferrara is aiming to
go beyond the holidays and reposition
the brands for everyday enjoyment
throughout the year.
" For both Delacre and Royal Dansk,
we want to build on their heritage of
being known as high-quality cookies
associated with holiday gifting and
social occasions and expand them to
everyday use by driving availability
and awareness of the right packs at
the right price points, " said Natalie
Hagstrom, general manager of cookies
at Ferrara.
Two Delacre products positioned
for everyday eating began shipping
to US retailers earlier this year: The
Tentation Chocolat assortment, a selection of seven specialty cookies with
Belgian chocolate, and a Marquisette

single-flavor carton, featuring delicate
European pastry cookies with dark
chocolate.
" Delacre is a pioneer in the cookie assortments category and the No. 1 fine
specialty cookie brand in France and
Belgium, " Ms. Hagstrom said. " The

LAT

TENTATION CHOC

The Tentation Chocolat assortment is sold
under the Delacre brand.

brand provides us with the opportunity to broaden consumers' options in
both the seasonal and everyday specialty cookies segment. Additionally,
research indicates cookies consumers
are variety seeking and looking for
more globally inspired ingredients...
Delacre will fill a whitespace in the
US cookies category with authentic
premium European pastry cookie

Rudi's introducing Rudi's Rocky
Mountain Bakery master brand
BOULDER, COLO. - Rudi's Organic
Bakery and Rudi's Gluten-free Bakery have introduced a new master
brand: Rudi's Rocky Mountain
Bakery.
Under the new brand, Rudi's said it plans to launch
new products and updated
recipes in its organic portfolio throughout the year.
The company intends to return to historic recipes using
starter yeast and a lengthy
fermentation process of up
to 24 hours that enhances
both the taste and texture
of its bread. In addition,
Rudi's will supplement its
gluten-free portfolio with
significant innovation, both
for the brand and the category, and planned product
launches later this year.
New packaging design also is
planned across the entire portfolio with the goal of attracting
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

new customers. Rudi's said it also
plans to ramp up marketing support
to help tell the authentic story of Rudi's Rocky Mountain Bakery to
new and current consumers
across the country.
" We felt that the bread category had been asleep for quite
some time now and are excited to turn the lights back on in
this category and bring a new
look and taste to everyone's
favorite comfort food with the
launch of Rudi's Rocky Mountain Bakery, " said Brian McGuire, chief executive officer.
Earlier this year, Rudi's announced it would be fast-tracking innovation in the commercial bread space in 2021. The
company plans to add more
than a dozen new products
across its organic and glutenfree platforms by the year's
end, bringing its total number of SKUs to 55. MBN

RUDI'S ROCKY
MOUNTAIN BAKERY

assortments and varieties in unmatched quality. "
Royal Dansk will introduce a new
8-oz everyday box, featuring new
packaging that highlights the brand's
quality ingredients and Danish heritage.
" This decision was a result of recent consumer focus groups, which
showed that though consumers love
the signature blue tin at holidays for
gifting and entertaining, there is a desire for a smaller size in a box format, "
Ms. Hagstrom said.
The brand also will introduce new
spring cookies in citrus lavender and
salted caramel varieties, which are being paired with the brand's signature
butter cookies for Easter this year.
With sales of Ferrara's cookies,
cones and crusts growing 5% in 2020,
Ms. Hagstrom said specialty cookies
are an area ripe for investment.
" Cookies can be found in 90% of US
households, so we know Americans
pay close attention to their cookie selections, " she said. " Additionally, the
cookie category is an impulsive one
- 54% of purchases are not planned.
Because of that we need to stand out at
shelf. In recent years and seasons, specialty segment growth has outpaced
the total category, signaling that consumers are truly enjoying the unique
formats and flavors available in this
area of the aisle. "
The company is looking to build
on the momentum it gained across
its cookies portfolio in 2020. Last year
saw Ferrara, in partnership with Ferrero, revamp the Keebler brand with
new formulations, packaging and
marketing strategies.
" We know that taste is a top purchase-driver and consumers place
value on high-quality ingredients, "
Ms. Hagstrom said. " For the Keebler
brand revitalization, our focus was on
improving the quality and freshness
of the existing cookies. For Delacre
and Royal Dansk, the cookie recipes
don't need to change, as they are already baked using high-quality ingredients. "
Royal Dansk's signature Danish recipe butter cookies are baked in Denmark with butter, no artificial ingredients and non-GMO ingredients. The
Delacre cookies are baked in France
and Belgium with authentic Belgian
chocolate.
" The focus is on communicating
those quality ingredients and taste
attributes and bringing moments of
sophisticated indulgence to the everyday consumer, " Ms. Hagstrom said. MBN
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April 6, 2021 / 11

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Milling & Baking News - April 6, 2021

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