The Black Farmer is set to capitalise on Prince Harry’s upcoming marriage to Meghan Markle with the launch of a new sausage celebrating the mixed heritage shared by the founder’s daughter and Markle.
The brand’s limited-edition Celebration Sausage (rsp: £3.15/400g) is set to go on sale in April to coincide with the May wedding, though supermarket listings are yet to be confirmed.
Set to launch under The Black Farmer’s Daughter sub-brand, the packaging will feature the British and US flags alongside an image of Black Farmer founder Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones’ daughter Scarlett, who like Markle is of mixed race.
“The marriage between Harry and Meghan is a momentous occasion for the black communities in the UK,” Emmanuel-Jones told The Grocer.
“The wedding signifies that the subject of diversity has moved into the mainstream. I hope that having a mixed-race person in such a prominent position will make it easier to challenge companies on underrepresentation.
“Food is often sold looking to the past using words like ‘traditional’. The message I want to promote is that diversity sells.”
The sausage is set to become the first in a line of products celebrating the UK’s diversity called The Taste of History range. The lineup is set to include four SKUs with flavour combinations celebrating diversity, with rollout scheduled to mark Black History Month in October.
It comes as Emmanuel-Jones took aim at suppliers and retailers ahead of last year’s Black History Month, calling on the industry to do more to address a lack of diversity.
Meanwhile, The Black Farmer brand has also expanded its egg offering, with the launch of white egg (rsp: £2.29) and Protein Plus (rsp: £2.42) variants launched in Ocado on Friday (26 January).
White eggs were a staple around 50 years ago, but have since faded from the public view. However, the variant fitted in with The Black Farmer’s sustainability goals, Emmanuel-Jones added, with hens laying more consistently despite consuming less food.
Though the Protein Plus eggs do not feature any more protein than standard, they are high in nutrients due to the enriched diet fed to the hens. The average Protein Plus egg contains 0.364 micrograms of selenium, compared to 0.23 micrograms in a standard egg. The eggs also contains around 20% of an adult’s RDI of omega-3, while standard eggs contain between 14% and 30%.
“I am always striving to push the boundaries and reintroducing white eggs as a staple is no exception, while the Protein Plus eggs gives customers the chance to pack in more nutrients where they may struggle to in their daily diet,” added Emmanuel-Jones. “Choice is king.”
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