17 Nov 2017 Good grief! Angel Delight’s on the fast track

Angel Delight is making a comeback in the UK, half a century after the whipped dessert first hit the shelves.

Sales of the brand jumped 30% over the six months to the end of September, according to its maker, Premier Foods, as consumers were tempted back by a new ready-to-eat version of the retro milky dessert, first launched in 1967 by Birds.

“Angel Delight, one of the group’s smaller and historically less heavily invested brands, grew by 30% in the period, benefiting from the launch of convenient ready-to-eat pots,” the company said.

In its traditional form, which is still available, consumers whisk milk into the Angel Delight powder, which comes in strawberry, chocolate, banana and butterscotch flavours. The range includes “no added sugar” alternatives in the same flavours.

The resurgence of Angel Delight reflected a broader trend in Premier’s first-half results, as consumers opted for products that were designed to be eaten “on the go”.

“Batchelors is now the fastest-growing major brand in our portfolio following the launch this year of convenient pot format products such as Super Noodle pots,” said the Premier Foods chief executive, Gavin Darby.

“The Batchelors brand has also benefited substantially from the launch of Pasta ’n’ Sauce pots, another range of convenient quick meals perfectly suited to today’s time-conscious consumer.”

Molly Johnson-Jones, senior food and grocery analyst at Global Data, said Premier Foods was tapping into a growing consumer trend of “on the go” snacking with an established brand.

“There has been huge growth in food on the go, largely because of a consumer base that shops at convenience stores – time-poor millennials who might pop in for lunch and buy a few things,” she said.

“The trend of people bringing in their lunch to work has declined, with consumers looking for things to be more immediate. They want quick and easy products, and supermarkets and convenience stores are tapping into that and seeing it as a growth area. The stores are trying to emulate the Pret and Itsu chains.”

Other brands owned by the group include Ambrosia, Mr Kipling and Oxo.

Premier Foods’ sales rose 1.5% over the six months to £353.3m, while pre-tax losses narrowed to £1.2m from £8.7m over the same period a year earlier.

Source: The Guardian