Premium boom is a big opportunity for posh SMEs

By Nicholas Robinson

- Last updated on GMT

More consumers are prepared to pay a premium for food and drink, say Delisanté co-founders John Pearson (left) and Charles Coleman (right)
More consumers are prepared to pay a premium for food and drink, say Delisanté co-founders John Pearson (left) and Charles Coleman (right)

Related tags Supermarket Retailing Food and drink

More high-end food and drink start-ups are taking advantage of a boom in sales of premium products in supermarkets and rising sales in posh retailers such as Waitrose.

Upmarket retailer Waitrose came second in a list of the UK’s fastest growing retailers​ earlier this month (March), behind discounter Aldi.

Waitrose’s average revenue growth of £360M made it a prime target for the emerging premium savoury bakery specialist Delisanté, which already supplies the supermarket.

A boom in premium product sales was down to consumers’ demand for more added value products, claimed Delisanté co-founder Charles Coleman.

‘Pay more for quality’

“Rather than going out so much I think they’re looking to pay a little more for quality and we’ve seen that with Waitrose with the handmade and handcrafted products we make.”

It was difficult to put a figure on the potential growth offered by a rise in demand for premium food and drink, said co-founder John Pearson.

However, the demand we’ve seen has outgrown our estimates and also our customers’ estimates,” ​Pearson added.

“If you take the soundbites of other people who have just issued their results quite recently, they’re seeing growth, particularly in premium savoury food products.”

Listen to the rest of this podcast to hear how Delisanté will work to boost its presence in the category.

Subscribe to the next issue of Food Manufacture ​to read an exclusive interview with Delisanté's factory manager Lillian Kiely and to find out how the firm will fill its 60% spare capacity.

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