Gressingham wants duck to challenge beef and lamb

17-Apr-2012 - Last updated on 14-Mar-2017 at 02:34 GMT

Going for a duck: Gressingham wants duck to rival beef and lamb on the nation's dinner tables

Duck producer Gressingham wants to persuade 10% of British households to eat duck regularly within two years in a bid for the meat to rival beef and lamb.

The Suffolk-based firm took the first step in what it termed “the UK’s largest-ever fresh-duck marketing campaign” yesterday (April 17) with the launch of redesigned packages of fresh duck meat, a spokeswoman told FoodManufacture.co.uk. The packages have been redesigned for on-shelf in retail outlets.

The firm will launch new duck products later this year, she added.

William Buchanan, Gressingham joint-md said: “With an increasing number of couples looking for a distinctive treat at home and the rising price of lamb and beef there is a natural opportunity for Gressingham Duck.

Passionate about duck

“We are passionate about duck and have ambitious plans to champion the category and drive sustained value growth by repositioning duck as a ‘regular treat’ – duck is remarkably simple to cook and we want more people to have a go.”

The UK fresh duck market is currently valued at £45M. Last year around 7% of UK households ate duck at home, according to figures from data monitor, Nielsen.

Gressingham, which reported an annual turnover of £92M last year, wants to take advantage of higher beef and lamb prices that have partially contributed to falling consumption of red meat.

According to the latest data from market monitor, Kantar Worldpanel, in the 12 weeks ending March 18, 2012, household expenditure on fresh and frozen beef increased 7.1% to £494.5M.

But the amount purchased fell 4% to 71,900t over the same period.

Consumer purchases of lamb fell by 10.4% to 14,725t over the 12 weeks to March 18, according to Kantar’s latest figures.

This led to a 2.1% fall in consumer expenditure on lamb to £132.4M. “The number of households that bought lamb was lower, as was the amount purchased on each shopping trip,” Kantar said.

It confirmed that UK duck sales valued at £35.3M totalled 6.18M kg in the 52 weeks up to October 2011.

Difficult to cook

Recent research commissioned by Gressingham revealed that 40% of UK adults eat duck away from the home. The perception of duck as being difficult to cook, coupled with a lack of consumer knowledge about its availability means most consumers do not eat it at home, the Gressingham spokeswoman said.

The company’s new packaging will show a 1-2-3-step message demonstrating how easy duck can be to cook and that it can be prepared in under an hour, she added.

Steve Curzon, Gressingham associate marketing director, said: “We want to see more people cooking with duck and with the growing consumer interest in cooking at home this is a great time for the Gressingham brand.

“The rebranding, new product development and marketing activity marks a real step change for the category and delivers a firm platform for growth.”