Ambrosia custard

Premier Foods is taking its Ambrosia brand into the frozen category with the launch of an ice cream-style dessert inspired by US trends.

Ambrosia Frozen Custard will be available from 19 February in sharing tubs (850ml/rsp: £3.75) and in four flavours: Vanilla; Vanilla with Strawberry Marble; Vanilla with Chocolate Swirl; and Vanilla with Chunky Fudge. Sainsbury’s and Ocado will be its first stockists.

Frozen custard was very popular in the US but had only recently started coming to the UK, said Grace Liljemark, Ambrosia brand director.

“Given the overwhelmingly positive consumer response we’ve had for the product, teamed with the consumer love for Ambrosia, we are very optimistic about this new extension,” she added.

As well as launching frozen custard, Premier is also introducing new premium ambient desserts to the Ambrosia range.

Available in 150g individual pots (rsp: 75p), 400g cans (rsp: £1.29) and 500g cartons (rsp: £1.39), Ambrosia Deluxe will come in Vanilla with Clotted Cream; Vanilla with Creamy Toffee; and Vanilla with Salted Caramel - though the salted caramel variant will be available only in the 150g format.

The range - positioned as a standalone dessert - will be rolled out on 15 February, with initial listings in Morrisons and Ocado.

The launches of the two new lines will be supported with £3m of marketing activity.

“Ambrosia is a leading brand that consumers know, love and trust. We have a great opportunity to build on Ambrosia’s heritage and popularity to bring additional value to the desserts category, and offer mid-week dessert treats,” said Liljemark.

The Ambrosia brand is worth £93m, following 3.65% growth over the past year [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 3 January 2016].