Butterkist

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Butterkist is the United Kingdom's best selling brand of popcorn,[1] with around 40% of the £90Million market.[2]


Contents

[edit] History

In 1914, Fred Hoke and James Holcomb begin to sell popcorn machines in Kentucky, United States under the brand of Butter-Kist. As their business developed, vendors began buying popcorn machines and the brand began to spread.[3] In 1938 Butter-Kist machines made their way to the UK via an unknown route, developing the brand as in the United States through sales to cinema audiences. During World War Two, the brand developed quickly, thanks to the many United States Army personnel stationed in the UK ready for the invasion of Europe.

After WW2, Craven Keiller developed a factory in York to sell Butterkist branded popcorn direct to cinema chains. As many items were rationed in the UK post WW2, but the basic ingredients of Butterkist were not, the brand developed into the UK's lead selling popcorn brand. The sales of the brand then followed the development and decline in cinema audiences, so that after the boom of the 1950's and 1980's, by 1998 sales were on another down turn and Craven Keiller sold the brand to Cadbury Trebor Bassett, which in 2000 merged the brand into its Monkhill Confectionary subsidiary and moved production to Pontefract, West Yorkshire.[4]

As part of its development strategy selling off non-core brands, from April 2006 Cadbury Schweppes put Monkhill into a group of non-core brands it would review putting up for sale,[5] and from June 2007 appointed investment bankers Investec to review the sale of Monkhill Confectionary, and its best selling brand Butterkist.[6]

Butterkist, along with other Monkhill rands, was sold to Tangerine Confectionary in February 2008 [7]

[edit] Marketing

After being dropped by various cinema brands in the 1990's, the brand was realigned to the growing home cinema market, with a 350g family sized tub launched with a link to family cinema review site popcorn.co.uk in 2000 in a program run by advertising agency Market Tiers 4DC,[8][9] before the brand was completely relaunched in 2005, using a heart logo to (quote) "symbolise Britain's love of the Butterkist brand."[3]

Having for many years used the chant logo "Butterkist, Butterkist, Ra ra ra!"[9] the brand is currently marketed under a comedic slant of "Butterkist: the fun's never done..."[10] and tying up with cartoon family The Simpsons from mid-2006.[2]

Presently, approximately 5,000tonnes of Butterkist are produced each year.[11] The red Butterkist bag is sold exclusively in the UK, and is available to buy still in cinemas as well as supermarkets and independent retailers. The Butterkist range includes 35g, 100g and 200g (the most popular item in the range), individual bags and a 6 x 30g multipack. Butterkist Toffee popcorn is suitable for vegetarians.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cadbury pops out of Butterkist The Sunday Times - 9 December, 2007
  2. ^ a b The Interview - Butterkist popcorn - a great taste of Americana, made in Great Britain The Grocery Trader - May 2006
  3. ^ a b Butterkist history
  4. ^ Monkhill assumes Butterkist role Eurofood - November 8, 2001
  5. ^ Cadbury seeks a Butterkist buyer BBC News - 7 April 2006
  6. ^ Cadbury to sell its Butterkist popcorn Daily Mail, Financial - 10 June 2007
  7. ^ Completion of sale of Monkhill Business
  8. ^ Butterkist out, you in.(positioning Butterkist popcorn The Grocer - August, 2000
  9. ^ a b marketingmonitor: butterkist case study Marketing Monitor - 12 June, 2000
  10. ^ Butterkist Toffee Popcorn
  11. ^ a b About our brands: Butterkist Cadbury Schweppes

[edit] External links

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