Pragma Reviews "Scrummie"
1st February 2009
History
Scrummie is a new range of microwaveable sponge puddings from Northern Foods. They are puddings made with 100% butter sponge, free range eggs and no artificial ingredients. Each is covered in sauce. The five flavours include Syrup Sponge, Stickie Toffee & Pecan Nuts, Chocolate, Spotted Dick and Cherrie Jam. (As a branding device, the ‘ie' at the end of Scrummie has been adopted for all words ending in ‘y' across the descriptive copy).
The products are based on traditional recipes such as spotted dick and syrup sponge, in an attempt to cash in on the trend for nostalgia foods. To give it a "fresh appeal" Scrummie is being positioned in the bakery section of stores. Last year, total ambient sponge pudding sales were up 3% to £17.9m.
The range has been launched following research which identified that sponge puddings are not just popular as an alternative to Christmas puddings, but that there is all-year-round demand.
Graphics 4/10
The card outer sleeve for each flavour has its own ‘sticky hand print' and a few lines of cheesy verse to describe the ingredients. The pudding containers are colour-coded to indicate the variants - brown for chocolate, red for Cherrie Jam etc.
However, overall the graphics lack impact and the necessary mouth-watering appeal; nor do they suggest especially tasty ingredients. Sponge puddings are a treat, a spot of indulgence, yet the pots are too similar to the packaging you might see on many other products.
The graphics also do little justice to the `natural' aspect of the ingredients and the sticky fingers device does not convey any impression of the product inside. No nostalgic image is communicated.
Function 6/10
The product is easy enough to microwave. The cardboard outer can be removed simply and the pudding is not difficult to extract.
On-shelf 5/10
Although Scrummie appears more modern than Aunt Bessie's range of puddings packaging and they have less shelf impact as a result. Aunt Bessie's packs manage to convey the hotness and indulgence of their puddings, which Scrummie fails to do. The same can be said of Heinz's 'Taste of Home' Treacle Sponge Puddings packs, which also convey the nostalgia of the puddings.
Overall 5/10
The packaging is rather ordinary and unimaginative and fails to communicate the unique selling point of the puddings: nostalgic products with natural ingredients. But the real proof of this pudding, of course, is in the eating!