Pladis makes major branding investment with its Carrs heritage bakery brand
Global snacks group pladis has delivered a key £1 million investment in its Carr’s bakery range, as the heritage brand continues to expand its product series, writes Neill Barston.
As the company explained, the move to enhance the established premium cracker business will include packaging redesign and serving suggestions curated by the firm’s lead chef Mark Schomberg, as well as Michelin-starred TV culinary star Tom Kerridge (pictured) for further inspiration.
The brand redesign has focused on its longstanding heritage with a brand-new logo that establishes “Carlisle”, “Cumbria”, “1831” – its founding date and location – into its iconography. With this, pladis aims to attract more discerning food lovers nationwide – driving household penetration and helping retailers increase sales among shoppers looking for new ways to enjoy savoury biscuits.
“Carr’s’ baking heritage spans 190 years, so we like to think we know a thing or two about savoury snacks,” says Alex Payne, Marketing Brand Manager – Carr’s, pladis UK&I. “We pride ourselves on the quality, flavour and signature texture of our products, along with the unique heritage story of JD Carr; with the redesign taking inspiration from the same founding values and craft, which still inspire our products today.
“It’s these baking, innovation and culinary values that shape our products – so we’ve made these USPs a real focus as we relaunch Carr’s to the UK market.
“With even more opportunities to get creative in the kitchen – whether we’re lunching ‘al desko’ or getting back together with friends and family in our homes and gardens – we want to inspire consumers both familiar and new, to broaden their palates, try something different, and increase brand awareness along the way, helping our retail customers drive cross-category sales in the process.
“Our recipes have now launched across Instagram (@carrs_uk), the recipes – under the name Carr’s Creations, and will help guide our followers to discover exciting new flavour experiences.
“This will reinforce the brand’s associations with high quality, artisanal food, all-the-while helping us on our mission to become the leader in premium, savoury snacking. This all means it’s the perfect time for retailers to take another look at their savoury snacking fixtures and stock-up on Carr’s.”
Carr’s refreshed look comes alongside a range revision which puts premium ingredients and recipes at the heart of the brand. This includes the launch of new Carr’s Black Olive Melts, plus the addition of Crispbreads, Flatbreads and Ciabatta.
Carr’s Black Olive Melts are deliciously-crisp wheaten biscuits, embodying Carr’s signature mouth-watering light, melting texture. The Carr’s Melts range – which also includes Original and Cheese flavours – has grown +20% since 2019 and now worth £4.5M.
Also available in a range of classic flavours is Carr’s crunchy Crispbreads, versatile Flatbreads and Italian-inspired Ciabatta – all baked with subtle flavours designed to complement a vast range of dips and toppings.
“At a time when consumers are turning to trusted, heritage brands for products which they can be confident deliver on quality and taste, our bestselling Carr’s Melts are proving more popular than ever,” continues Payne.
“In fact, with Brits spending more evenings indoors indulging in premium, savoury snacks over the past year, Carr’s Melts have fast become our bestselling SKU.”
