Border Biscuits is investing in a significant refresh to reposition itself as an ‘accessible premium’ sweet biscuit brand, as it looks to tap into a £190m category opportunity.

At a press briefing this morning, the company’s managing director, Paul Parkins, told Better Retailing that value sales are in 12.7% growth, with 40% of the business made up of mini packs, while 60% led by carton packs. Overall, it ranks as the UK’s number one premium biscuit brand consumed out of home, and Scotland’s number one special treat brand.

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To further propel this growth and tap into a £190m opportunity, it will focus on more occasions that it previously hasn’t concentrated on, including sharing, gifting and seasonal events.

The supplier will also innovate with more ‘need states’ in mind, including mood-based options (where people want something that is indulgent and tasty), and portion-based options (where people are looking for something to satisfy them without being ‘too much’).

“We want to replicate what other challenger brands have done in other categories, such as Fever Tree, Gu and Tyrrells,” added Parkins.

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Lisa Manning, head of category and insights, said owning the ‘accessible premium’ segment means bringing about quality and interesting flavours, while not being exclusive to special occasions.

“Some of our range will include 25% more chocolate, and we’ll focus on more formats including bars, mini packs and sharing cartons, while tapping into trending flavours such as raspberry and orange,” added Manning. “We’re not shying away from ingredients and will still operate in the special treats category and provide options for people who want to ‘spend’ their calories on something worthwhile.”

The new brand proposition, ‘Making moments matter’, will encompass this and in doing so, the company has created a new focus hierarchy. This, in order, includes: chocolate range, originals range, chocolate biscuit bars, mini packs, bites and nibbles, sharing packs, and finally, seasonal options.

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As such, new products include a Dark Chocolate and Orange variety, which is on sale now, and a Dark Chocolate and Raspberry option, which will launch later in the year.

Neville Saunderson, head of out-of-home, said in terms of its mini formats, which until now have been popular in hotels, conferences, and meetings, it aims to widen its appeal to hit other occasions.

He added 60% of biscuits are consumed with hot drinks, so for convenience retailers, this opens up potential new avenues for cross-merchandising.

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