Panda boosts sales for Leeds firm
Dienstag, 6 Oktober 2009
A cartoon panda called Vinnie has been credited with boosting the sales of biscuits for a Leeds-based company.
Northern Foods said the advertising campaign based around Vinnie had given Fox's biscuits its highest brand share since 2006, with underlying sales improving by 3.9% in the 26 weeks to September 26.
The group, which is a major supplier to national supermarkets, saw revenues rise by 2.9% following volume growth of 2.5%.
The group is also expected to do well in the Christmas market, with trading driven by businesses such as Matthew Walker puddings.
In Northern's other divisions, chilled revenues rose by 8.8% after it introduced new discount lines in sandwiches and salads. But it warned that discount ranges will impact on margins.
Underlying revenues in frozen foods were down 7.5% on a year earlier, but Northern said this reflected a rebalancing of the business towards higher margin contracts. It closed a pizza manufacturing site in Ireland last year and surrendered several marginal own-label contracts.
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