A spike for delivery and takeaway sales in December.

White Rabbit lands a market fi rst free-from

Italian foodie start-up, White Rabbit, launched what it claims was the fi rst to market vegan and gluten free calzone across Sainsbury’s.

In time for Veganuary, the Chick’n & Pesto Calzone launch followed a stream of NPD and distribution gains from the awardwinning challenger in 2021, including a venture into frozen, fresh pasta and listings in Coop and Morrisons. As a result, the brand has grown 50% year on year and is set to be reporting its biggest Veganuary to date, they report.

Bergamo-born chef and co-founder, Matteo Ferrari, went back to his roots to craft a free-from pizza product off ering consumers authentic Italian taste without compromise.

Wrapped in Teo’s signature sourdough gluten free base, the Chick’n & Pesto Calzone is fi lled with a generous helping of the fi nest creamy MozzaRisella, vineripened Sicilian chopped tomatoes, basil pesto and chick’n strips.

Commenting on the launch, co-founder, Nick Croft-Simon, said: “At White Rabbit, we want to make a plant-based diet more inclusive via authentic, delicious taste credentials and we also want to make the switch we also want to make the switch easy. Growth in plant-based has increased dramatically over the Covid-19 pandemic, with one in four of us reducing the amount of animal products we consume according to the Vegan Society.

“The most compelling way to introduce this new audience into plant-based is to take away all compromises with ‘food for tonight’ that tastes incredible in a quick and convenient format.”

A spike for delivery and takeaway sales in December

Britain’s leading restaurant and pub groups recorded a sharp increase in delivery and takeaway sales when the Omicron variant impacted some consumers going out in the run-up to Christmas, the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker has revealed.

The December edition of the researchers’ Tracker revealed that groups recorded a 127% increase in sales by value from the levels of December 2019. It is a sharp rise on the 2021-on-2019 comparison of 97% in November, say CGA and Slerp, refl ecting consumers’ decisions to stay at home and restrictions in the hospitality sector as the Omicron variant spread.

The Tracker from CGA and Slerp shows December’s delivery sales were 266% higher than in 2019 (more than fi ve times the growth of 47% in takeaways). It continues consumers’ steady move away from picking up food to having it brought to their door, they add, with delivery volumes outstripping takeaways and click and collect orders by some distance.

By contrast, the eat-in sales of restaurants and pubs were badly aff ected in December by Covid-19 concerns. The latest edition of the separate CGA Coff er Business Tracker - which has a diff erent cohort of contributing companies - indicated a 11% drop in sales for leading managed groups compared to December 2019.

Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA, said: “Deliveries and takeaways have been a lifeline for restaurant and pub groups throughout the pandemic, and December’s sales provided another critical boost as eat-in trade dropped away. While the rate of growth may slow as 2022 goes on and Covid-19 restrictions ease, it is clear that the rapid rise of third-party ordering platforms has helped to cement deliveries in consumers’ habits. Mastering this market without compromising in-restaurant sales is going to be a major priority for all operators in 2022.”

Leanne Patterson, head of marketing at Slerp added: “Consumers are now accustomed to the ease and convenience of delivery, and it’s very unlikely that delivery demand will drop. As we head towards key calendar dates such as Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, there is a huge opportunity for operators to capitalise on this demand. By creating and marketing their seasonal off erings, savvy operators can use delivery, particularly pre-orders, to fuel sales growth, alongside their on premise off ering.”