VIP Nuts: We’ve cracked it with beer collaboration
UK-based New York Delhi produces a range of premium nut products with spice blends and mixes, supplying to top-end retailers, private jet companies and five-star hotels.
However, its peanuts were stocked in Tesco across the UK for Christmas, last year, thanks to a limited edition tie-up with Carlsberg. Similarly, the product was stocked in Sainsbury’s two years prior due to a collaboration with Cobra beer.
Nina Slattery, co-founder of New York Delhi, said consumers just liked beer and nut combinations.
“People naturally think about beer and nuts,” she told BakeryandSnacks.com last month at ISM/ProSweets 2015 in Cologne.
For the Carlsberg tie-up, she said the New York Delhi truly benefited from the beer brand’s strong advertising edge.
“What’s really nice is the Carlsberg marketing campaign being as strong as it is – ‘if Carlsberg did nuts, they would do VIP Nuts’ – you know, how good is that?”
Slattery said New York Delhi had even recently been approached by Fosters in Australia to discuss collaborative opportunities; something of particular interest because the country was an area it wanted to expand further in
However, she said collaboration promise stretched beyond beer.
“We’ve got these wonderful, unusual flavors like chili lemon and manuka honey mustard – that, for example, goes really well will champagne, so it doesn’t have to be restricted to beer.”
‘Accidental’ mass appeal
Asked who the target consumer was for the VIP Nuts line, Slattery said the brand had mass appeal.
“It’s just one of those things – it’s the way it’s come together. It has mass appeal and it’s commercially priced… It’s been quite accidental though – the brand has just forced its way out to everyone.”
She said packaging had played a major role in building brand traction.
“It does surprise me, even as small as we are, that people know who we are. I’m sure it’s about how wonderful our packaging is. People say ‘God, you guys are everywhere’; the truth of the matter is, we’re not.”
The silver foil pouch bags and simple black front-of-pack label were inspired by New York Delhi’s earlier spices business, Slattery said. “When we did our spices they were actually in little silvery bags, so it made sense.”
“… Without being big-headed, we believe there is no competition. There are a lot of companies out there but they don’t have a point of difference like we do."
