Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good break: Beloved British cakes slices are on their way to the US while manufacturer predicts price rises at home
- Mr Kipling's owner is attempting to branch out to win over the American market
- The cake brand, popular in Britain since 1970s, will be trialled for US cake lovers
- Premier Foods say Mr Kipling will also expand in Canada after positive campaign
- But British consumers have been warned of price rises amid rising inflation
Mr Kipling is crossing the pond as the brand's owner makes a bold pitch to win over American cake lovers.
Premier Foods announced it will trial Mr Kipling cake slices in the US and roll out more cakes in Canada following a successful marketing campaign.
But the company, which also owns Ambrosia, Bisto and Angel Delight, warned that customers in the UK can expect to see price hikes on its products as inflation begins to bite.
Chief executive Alex Whitehouse said the increased prices for supermarkets were commercially sensitive, but he did reveal cost pressures are now being passed on.
He said: 'We're seeing import cost inflation across the board on a wide range of ingredients.
Mr Kipling is hoping to break into the American market with its cake slices but warns British consumers may see price increases due to inflation
'The last resort for us is to put through price increases but, inevitably, that is where we're going to end up but we're not sharing what we're likely to pass on to our customers at this point.
'It is commercially sensitive to talk about the exact price increases to customers.'
He explained that the company's ambitions in the US will follow the pattern used in Canada, which saw a trial of cake slices sold in supermarkets.
He said: 'We're focusing first on our cake slices. That's based on research that we've done both in Canada and the US and it was the case that those would be interesting to us for consumers.
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'In Canada we're in full rollout mode. In the US we're going into a couple of supermarket chains to validate the model works... then we'll push out to more stores. It's a test and learn approach.'
Mr Whitehouse's comments come as Premier Foods revealed sales fell in the six months to October 2 by 6.5% to £394.1 million.
Bosses pointed out that over a two-year period before the pandemic, sales remained strong, adding that last year's numbers were skewed due to stockpiling by customers.
In October, the company made further headlines after they announced plans to triple the sales of plant-based foods by 2030.
Premier Foods already makes around £78million each year from plant-based foods But bosses want to up that to £250 million by 2030 as part of its efforts to boost its green credentials.
Mr Whitehouse said that he remains happy with the business and sees Premier Foods continuing to benefit from strong growth in home baking, particularly home-made pizzas.
Half year pre-tax profits were also down in the period compared to a year ago - dropping 39.2% to £30.7 million - due to the sale of its Hovis business, with the cash banked last year.
