Spreads business Duerr’s has made its first serious push into branded peanut butter after years as a major own-label supplier.

The company is this month rolling out two branded peanut butters - crunchy and smooth (both rsp: £1.99) - to tap into growing consumer interest in the spread.

Duerr’s has produced peanut butter for the own-label market for 25 years, and 18 months ago shelled out £2m on a dedicated production facility in Manchester that produces 100,000 jars a day.

The launch had been prompted by a brand-wide redesign earlier this year, said Duerr’s sales and marketing director Richard Duerr, adding that it had only previously sold branded peanut butter on a small scale, with the bulk going overseas and to a few independents.

“We are the UK’s largest producer of peanut butter but had never had a proper push with branded because we struggled to get the look right,” he said. “Our new logo works much better on peanut butter than our previous one.”

The new range is being produced with North American peanuts rather than the South American or Chinese ingredients previously used, following a strong US crop last year. Duerr said he hoped to maintain US sourcing.

He added that the business was looking to capitalise on the boom in peanut butter, up 8.3% by volume in an overall spreads category up just 0.6% [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 28 October 2012].

Despite reports of a long-term decline in traditional spreads, Duerr’s had seen strong marmalade and static jam sales, he added.

Topics