Florette PepperCress

PepperCress is expected to inspire new recipe ideas

Florette is investing £1.25m in a push to encourage Brits to use salad in their cooking - as it launches a new baby leaf salad that it says is ideal for just that.

The company will be offering its proprietary PepperCress baby leaf - a variety of land cress with a peppery flavour - in 70g bags from the end of April (rsp: £1.19).

The leaf, which was launched last year, is available only as part of Florette’s Crispy mixed leaf bags at the moment.

Single-leaf salad was dominated by watercress, spinach and rocket, and sales had been flagging, said marketing controller Elaine Smith. The sector was worth £110.6m at the beginning of February, up 2.7% year on year, but its share of the total leafy prepared salad market has declined from 20.2% in 2012 to 19% in 2014 [Nielsen].

“We know the single-leaf sector needs invigorating, and our insight indicates salad consumers are craving inspiration and new tastes - innovation is key in delivering this and something we are addressing through PepperCress,” said Smith.

As PepperCress was robust enough to be cooked, Florette would be able to “inspire” consumers with a range of recipe ideas beyond the usual cold salad and sandwich territory usually occupied by bagged salads, she added.

In Florette’s consumer studies, 26% of shoppers had suggested they would use PepperCress as an ingredient in a meal, she said. “It’s a real opportunity to freshen up the market.”

PepperCress will be supported with a £1.25m campaign that includes a new execution of its recipe-focused ‘One Minute Wonder’ TV campaign, which will run in May and after the World Cup. Florette will also use social and digital media platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest to promote recipe ideas using PepperCress.