A new frozen-food retailer in north-west England is aiming to beat competitors on pricing through the repurposing of own-label products used by convenience retailers.

Oops!, the retail operation of frozen-food supplier King Parrot Frozen Foods, opened its first two stores in Preston and Bolton this month, one of which is in a former Poundstretcher.

The company buys own-label items that wholesalers and manufacturers in the grocery and foodservice sectors are no longer able to use and repackages them from a purpose-built warehouse in Liverpool for resale.

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Chief executive Noel Davis told Better Retailing the process enables the company to sell the products at a cheaper price than competitors, but stressed it is not reflective of the quality or safety standards.

“Many of the products we buy can no longer be used by the supplier, not because of quality or health risks, but because there may have been a slight misprint on the labelling or biscuits may have been broken or made to a size that no longer fits the packaging during the manufacturing process,” he said.

“Oops! works with 25-to-30 manufacturers, wholesalers and suppliers, and they all supply retailer own label.”

Davis declined to name the companies it buys and repurposes own-label products from, but described many as “multi-million-pound” businesses.

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When asked about the most popular products from the two stores, Davis listed lines such as frozen meals, biscuits and sausage rolls. “We can sell a pack of jumbo sausage rolls for 79p,” he said. “You go to somewhere like Greggs and it’s much more expensive.”

Due to lockdown restrictions limiting the openings of businesses in the hospitality sector, many foodservice wholesalers have had excess stock stored in their warehouses.

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Explaining further expansion plans, Davis said: “We’d ideally like to open 20-to-30 more sites by the end of next year. We’re targeting sizes of between 7,000sq ft and 10,000sq ft in areas with high footfall.

“We’re looking at sites vacated by retailers such as Poundland and Argos. Our focus is predominantly on the north-west because of our logistics.

“Now is the perfect time to act. As the impact of Covid-19 and a second lockdown are felt across the country, more and more families are struggling with access to affordable, nutritious food.

“We are here to help deliver sustainable solutions to this challenge.”

Find out more on our coronavirus information hub for retailers