Brooke Bond has returned to UK shelves after an absence of more than 20 years. It is one of two leading Indian brands that Unilever is trialling in the UK to test the market for ethnic products. 

Brooke Bond Bru is the top coffee brand in India and comes in three varieties – Malabar Gold, Goa Fiesta and Nilgiri Mist – and would be targeted specifically at ethnic communities in the UK, said the company. 

The three varieties would be distributed alongside Dipy’s cornichons, another well-known brand in India, through a deal between Cert Brands and Unilever’s Hindustan business. 

They would be available through wholesale channels, although multiples with strong ethnic ranges are also being targeted.

The Dipy’s brand, which comes in 350g and 500g jars, was aimed at the mainstream market as well as ethnic shoppers, said Neil Rutty, divisional MD at Cert Brands. 

While most countries only produced one crop a year, meaning the product had to be pickled for a long time, India produced three or four annual crops for a fresher product, he added.

“It is about bringing something different to the market that will not devalue Unilever’s existing UK brands,” he said. “There is a long history of coffee production in India and it is also emerging as one of the world’s leading gherkin producers.”