Kepak has unveiled a new look for its Rustlers brand, designed to boost the quality and provenance credentials of the product range - part of a wider strategy to broaden the appeal of the micro-snack.

Rolling out from April 6,  the new packs will feature ‘flame grilled’ and ‘100% British and Irish beef’ messaging to highlight the quality, provenance and flame-grilling process of Rustlers products, which aims to drive shopper reappraisal of the brand.

Adrian Lawlor, marketing and business development director at Kepak says: “Clear tiering of the range, a new design and protein-led colour coding, will make the category easier and quicker to shop for today’s time-pressed consumers, while offering obvious trade-up options.

“We are living in the age of convenience with more focus than ever before on the speed and ease of preparation, underpinned by a growing focus on the quality of the food we eat. Convenience can no longer afford to come with compromise. While Rustlers is synonymous with convenience and speed, it also has fantastic quality credentials, which will be strongly dialled up as part of this relaunch.

“We have been working on this initiative for over 18 months and the over-arching strategy and has been routed in and validated by an extensive research programme including semiotics, sentiment tracking, shopper research and simulated eye tracking. Based on consumer feedback through this research, we are very excited that this initiative gives us a very strong platform for continued growth in the coming years,” adds Lawlor.

The packaging change is backed a high-impact marketing campaign aimed at creating excitement and a social buzz around the new look, while elevating the quality perceptions of Rustlers products.

To help retailers capitalise on this opportunity, Kepak is providing free Rustlers branded POS kits (available via www.kepaktrade.co.uk) as well as supporting the convenience and wholesale channels during the transition with an investment of half a million pounds in a dedicated convenience field sales team.

Topics