Warburtons is overhauling its free-from range again, ditching the Newburn Bakehouse sub-brand in favour of “simpler” Warburtons Gluten Free branding.
Distinctive orange and black packs featuring the new logo will roll out across the range of 19 gluten-free, wheat-free and milk-free products spanning bread, wraps, sandwich thins and crumpets from 15 January 2018.
The rebrand marks a u-turn by Warburtons, which launched the Newburn Bakehouse sub-brand in 2013 to “demarcate” its gluten-free lineup from its core bakery range.
“Rebranding to Newburn Bakehouse five years ago was the right move at the time, because free from consumers were more familiar and comfortable with niche brands,” Chris Hook, free-from director at Warburtons told The Grocer.
“However, since then the market has grown considerably, and many bigger brands have launched their own ranges. As a result, free-from consumers are now much more trusting and comfortable with mainstream brands”.
The bakery business had conducted “extensive customer testing”, which showed consumers avoiding gluten for health or lifestyle reasons preferred the “clarity and simplicity” of the Warburtons Gluten Free brand, added Hook.
Gluten-free continues to defy a wider slump in bread, with supermarket value sales of free-from ambient bakery up 14.4% last year [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 26 February 2017], while wrapped bread fell 3.4% [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 1 January 2017].
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