Hula Hoops

And he plans to keep that momentum going in 2008.

Health and nutrition was and is 'front of mind' with consumers and Hula Hoops' move to sunflower oil reduced the saturated fat in the product. “That's what consumers expect from major brands,” adds Stuart.

“We also revamped the Cheese & Onion variant which is available in Handy Packs and in the multi-pack. That, too, had an impact on sales, as did the introduction of a multi-grain variant.”

Multi-grain was launched in July last year and in that short time has seen sales soar to £3.2m.

UB was also able to exploit Christmas sales with a limited edition 'Pigs in Blankets' variant – sausage and bacon flavour – which offered traditional round hoops and star-shaped ones in the same bag.

But, of course, it was the marketing support which underpinned all of this work. UB spent £2m on TV advertising and there were major promotions for all trade channels – “and that's why the brand grew,” says Stuart.

“This year will see us maintain our health and nutrition strategy,“ he adds.

Sustainability will also feature strongly over the next year or so. UB has an agreed 'eco-friendly' policy which will see the weight of packaging reduced by 17%.

2007 £73.5m
2006 £69.1m
yoy change 6.4%