Nobby’s Cuts are made from topside slices of Argentinian marinated beef and will be available in Mighty Meat flavour from January next year. They will be sold in similar packaging used for the crisps and nuts, in 25g packs with an rsp of £1.25.
A £4m campaign, including press and TV ads breaking in March featuring ex-Slade frontman Noddy Holder, will support the brand next year.
According to PepsiCo, the market for beef jerky in the US is worth £1.4bn,
growing at around 14% year-on-year. Dried meat, or biltong, is also a massive snacking product in South Africa and Australia but it remains a niche product in the UK with most brands imported.
The company reckons Nobby’s Cuts will give the snack much greater mainstream appeal, especially among men looking for a meatier alternative to crisps and nuts.
“Nobby’s is very much associated with blokes and bloke culture, which means we are perfectly placed to introduce a new product to this area of the snacks market,” said PepsiCo trade marketing manager Cara Beeby.
The Nobby’s brand, launched in February, is already worth more than £18m [IRI total market to October 2005].
Stefan Chomka