HERITAGE
- Our customers' and consumers' first choice for healthy snacks, nutritional food supplements and culinary ingredients
- Quality, taste and appeal that spans the generations, food categories and distribution channels
- 100 years of heritage and trust, at the forefront of modern food trends
1886
A business is born
The 1950's
Rapid expansion
1997
SCOTIA HAVEN FOOD GROUP LTD. purchases WHITWORTHS LTD. from NAPIER BROWN to become WHITWORTHS GROUP LTD.
2000
Consolidation
2001
MBO and start of accelerated innovation programme
2002
Breakout into impulse and snacking
2003
Excellence is rewarded
2004
New horizons through diversification
2005
Aquisition and more awards
2006
Towards an even healthier future
BACKGROUND & VISION
The renewed interest in home cooking and increased demand for wholesome, nutritious, safe and unprocessed food have provided the catalyst for dynamic change at Whitworths. A company that was once almost exclusively associated with baking products, has now been reinvented in the minds of consumers, the trade and stakeholders alike. Now Whitworths is the driving force behind some of the UK's fast-growing categories - healthy fruit & nut snacks and nutritious recipe ingredients.
The Whitworths brand has been rebuilt on the following principles: innovation, a dynamic approach to food production and total consumer understanding.
Our attitude to cooking, snacking and nutritious wholesome eating is one that we believe befits the modern age. Our products and sub-brands are truly global in flavour, opening up whole new horizons of taste possibilities - whilst remaining practical, understandable and down-to-earth. Our consumers and customers choose Whitworths because they can be confident in the perfect results every time. This consistency and reliability is an essential part of our recipe for success and an extension of, rather than a departure from, our past.
More specifically, our aims and pledges towards consumers are:
- To encourage them to choose Whitworths every time
- To inspire them with relevant solutions for their snacking, cooking and baking.
- To offer them total reassurance and confidence to achieve the perfect results every time
Our major aim and pledge towards our trade customers is to add value wherever possible. This means making Whitworths a respected and trusted partner through:
- Excellence of customer service
- Providing best value
- Quality products with innovative packaging solutions
- Consistently safe food from monitored sources.
- The provision of new snacking, contemporary cooking and traditional baking products - and thus new revenue streams
Whitworths takes in thousands of miles and a thousand different faces - from packers and partners, to satisfied manufacturers and retailers, to reassured mums and healthy kids, via our own team of dedicated personnel. It takes a lot of different people to make a winning team - we know it's one that people genuinely enjoy being part of.
GROWERS & SUPPLIERS
Being fastidious about our products and ingredients means being equally selective about those who grow and produce them. However, these are anything but master and servant relationships. Our suppliers, located in over 80 countries around the world, are as much our partners as our suppliers. Whether they are growing apricots in Turkey or raisins in California, these organisations and individuals share our commitment to taste, freshness and the highest quality production standards.
TOMORROW'S PERFECT PRODUCT
In a world that is forever evolving, we remain constantly focused on the ever changing needs and tastes of consumers. This is a case of staying ahead of trends rather than merely keeping pace with them. It is no more apparent than in our innovative programme of category leading new product initiatives within the snacking fruits and natural nuts and seeds categories. These are products that satisfy on every level - they are convenient, nutritious, delicious and visually appealing.
This is made possible through a corporate vision that is both outward and inwardly focussed - superior consumer insights coupled with quality control, testing and supply chain systems that are nothing short of 'world class'.
We remain the benchmark for quality healthy snacking, traditional baking and contemporary cooking ingredient products. However, we are also dedicated to developing new market opportunities in categories where we have already been pioneers as well as developing our core competences within totally new channels and grocery categories.
CURRENT FOCUS
Our ongoing programme of innovation is designed to strengthen Whitworths market position as No.1 brand and preferred retail brand supplier in each of our core categories. Numerous initiatives continue to help stimulate consumer interest and penetration in key growth categories, particularly the fast-growth sectors of bagged snacking fruit and natural nuts and seeds.
However a key factor in broadening appeal is broadening availability and several category management initiatives are currently helping put more of our products within more consumer's reach. Key to this has been the delivery of bespoke merchandising solutions to our retail partners, in both the grocery aisles and the impulse channel. Moreover, Whitworths continues to lead the development of the out of home' impulse category with new healthy snacking formats in forecourts, motorway service stations, cinemas and vending, as well as maximise the potential of convenient, tasty and healthy at home' grazing.
Intrinsic to these initiatives has been the development of our packaging portfolio through UK category 1st manufacturing investment. Shelf space efficient packaging formats, stand-up pouches, multipacks, SRP solutions, pots and lunch box carton formats have not merely accelerated Whitworths No.1 corporate branded position in bagged fruit snacks, but established clear differentiation between the company and its competition.
In addition, other NPD initiatives have unlocked the real potential of the Whitworths brand in existing and new markets. Examples include our brand technology diversification in cereals & pulses and our enrobed and coated product offering within the impulse channel.
Along with our commitment to service, quality and value, innovation remains a key means for delivering profitable new revenue streams for our customers and thus cementing long-term relationships with them.
WHERE NPD MEETS MARKETING
Intelligent research has given us valuable insight into changing consumer preferences, lifestyle demands and patterns of consumption, at work, at home and particularly on the move. Coupled with our dynamic approach to marketing, this has allowed us to appeal to the demands of the modern day consumer seeking convenience but also real food inspiration. That's why the Whitworths brand is all about the global kitchen'. This means encouraging consumers to experiment and innovate with their taste buds and think creatively when it comes to meal and snacking solutions. New value added products and formats and numerous new lines and brand extensions, within new categories and channels, all help consumers fulfil this exciting challenge within the confines of their contemporary lifestyles.
Innovative new packaging formats and image building consumer marketing campaigns, including promotions, sampling, advertising and TV promotions, have invited consumers to rediscover the brand and encouraged trial. This has created both renewed interest within established Whitworths target groups whilst also reaching a whole new generation of cooks, snackers and grazers. Millions of consumers, new and old, now see our baking and cooking products in a contemporary context and have trialed our broad range of healthy new snack alternatives.
Our dynamic approach to marketing is no more apparent than in the exciting sector of snacking. This is Whitworths at its most creative, as we invite consumers into a whole 'healthy snacking experience'. Eye-catching packaging, memorable advertising and the creation of differentiated new sub brands, all combine to satisfy both curiosity and appetites, stimulating imaginations as well as taste buds.
Moreover, our ever expanding range of nutritious snacks is designed to satisfy the entire spectrum of popular tastes and snacking occasions. From kids to health conscious adults - from the lunchbox, to the car, to the cinema, to the forecourt - from pure health to delicious indulgence - these snacks satisfy on every level.
This unique combination of innovative NPD and marketing has established Whitworths as THE healthy fruit & nut snacking provider, driving category growth by a massive 34.4%. Whitworths is now the UK's number one bagged fruit snack with an all-time high market share of 26%, (source: TNS 52 w/e 23rd April 2006).
Despite this success, we refuse to stand still. The application of new technology has led to the launch of Whitworths first microwavable pouch range as well as the introduction of many category leading UK firsts - including individually wrapped fruit snacks, stand-up shaped pouches and in-car tubs.
The healthy fruit and nut snacking is a sector Whitworths are almost single-handedly revolutionising. As we increasingly become recognised as leaders and innovators, with an impressive list of category firsts, the future for Whitworths healthy snacking is extremely prosperous. In short we are defining the market and setting the trends.