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MEAT & POULTRY FROM PAGE 29 in driving innovation, bringing new and exciting formats to life and driving awareness through branded communications,” he said. “Brands often stand for something different to private label and can help bring fun and speedy NPD to life. With Steggles, the most preferred chicken brand, and Lilydale, Australia’s favourite free-range chicken \[Omnipoll survey, 2019\], it seems consumers are still looking for brands to bring their favourite chicken meals to their dinner tables.” Freezer ready While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought panic buying across Australian shelves, Mr Stevens says consumers have been turning to the freezer category for the convenience of having ready-to-go meal solutions at their fingertips. The frozen poultry category has been growing continuously over the past few years, with the latest MAT indicating 18.9 per cent growth (Sales $, IRI MarketEdge, MAT to 28/6/20, supplied by Baiada). Steggles has been the “major contributor” to this growth, delivering more than 38 per cent growth in brand sales in the latest year (IRI Scan, $ Sales, MAT to 26/4/20, supplied by Baiada). “We know that 57 per cent of consumers replace meals with snacks, moving towards convenience and sharing, instead of the one large meal \[EY Sweeney U&A 2018\]”, Mr Stevens said. To meet this need, Steggles is launching a range of new QSR-inspired products into the freezer, headlined by the new Steggles Nacho Chicken, a corn chip-inspired crunchy chicken triangle “packed with flavour and full of personality”. Don’t forget duck The duck category, according to Luv-a-Duck Head of Sales & Marketing George Dimkin, is attracting “strong double-digit growth” across the retail market, demonstrating “a great opportunity to premiumise the poultry category and increase basket value”. “The coronavirus pandemic and effective closure of restaurants and cafes has inspired consumers to rediscover ‘cook from scratch’ and enjoy restaurant quality meals at home,” he said. “Consumers have \[also\] maintained strong preferences for Australian grown product.” When it comes to category challenges, Mr Dimkin says consumers have traditionally struggled to find duck in-store, with locations varying between retailers. “Blocking duck products would assist with identification and shopability,” he said. Assisting retailers with this, Luv-a-Duck uses consistent colour blocking across the range to assist with identification on shelf. In addition, the brand’s products are presented on shelf vertically to maximise shelf space efficiencies. “\[Luv-a-Duck\] has recently undertaken an artwork refresh to further assist customers shopping the product range and has brought the country of origin labelling front of pack to highlight Australian produce,” Mr Dimkin said. Looking ahead, Mr Dimkin says Luv-a-Duck will continue to innovate with duck to deliver products that address key consumer mega trends, health and continued convenience, to drive duck consumption – recently launching Luv-A-Duck Cooked A L’Orange flavoured Duck Legs”. 30 RETAIL WORLD SEP, 2020