Crisps made from discarded salmon skin and a vegan “meal in a bottle” will be on sale at Sainsbury’s from Monday as part of a drive to test shoppers’ reactions to fledgling “disrupter” food and drink brands.
Aimed at millennials, the range will be prominently displayed in dedicated bays for just 14 weeks, with shoppers asked to tell the grocery chain what it should keep to stay ahead of fast-evolving food and drink trends.
Shelf banners and labels read: “If you love it, we’ll keep it.” Only those that sell well will secure longer-term, permanent listings.
The so-called Taste of the Future scheme is the next phase of Sainsbury’s Future Brands initiative, set up in April 2018 to find distinctive products and support their growth through a “hot-housing” programme offering brands mentoring and other help.
Edible roasted crickets launched by Sainsbury’s last November – in a UK supermarket first – were introduced under this model and are selling strongly as an alternative, sustainable food source.
The new range is made up of 30 products – created by 11 startup brands – and also includes the UK’s first alcoholic kombucha (a fermented drink made from sweetened tea), seaweed-infused rapeseed oil and a pocket-sized elderflower spritzer.
They will go on sale in 69 larger Sainsbury’s stores from Monday.
As it seeks to gain an edge over its big four rivals, Sainsbury’s research shows younger shoppers are keen to try out edgy products in emerging categories and trends – including plant-based and alcohol-free – that also have eco-credentials. They increasingly value and seek out products with a hand-crafted nature rather than commoditised, bland foods, it found.
Rachel Eyre, head of Future Brands, said: “In the first year [of Future Brands], we have found and introduced some amazing products from up-and-coming challenger brands across food, drink, household and personal care, and our customers loved them. We are very excited by this next wave of innovation.”
With kombucha now one of the fastest growing drinks categories in the UK, one of the first products to be trialled will be Bootleg Booch, a lower sugar organic, alcoholic kombucha hailed for its “bold botanic flavours and crisp fresh finish”.
Also in the first wave are flavoured Sea Chips – handcrafted crisps made from salmon skin that would otherwise go to waste. Time-poor consumers can pick up a gluten-free, lactose-free vegan meal in a bottle from French brand Feed, alongside solid alternatives in bars.
