More Brie Vicar?

More Brie Vicar?

Sales of French Products soar over British counterparts

14th July, 2011 – London – Brits are stocking their cupboards high with French produce, tapping into the long-standing view that the French are always one step ahead when it comes to style, according to new sales data from online supermarket Ocado.

Sales of French Saucisson (sausage) have risen by 169 per cent more than its British counterpart Gammon over the past two years.

French Aioli (garlic mayonnaise) has become increasingly popular with sales up 400 per cent, versus a more conservative growth of Hellmann’s Light Mayo, at just 35 per cent.

With over 20 per cent of Brits describing the French as “stylish,” our Gallic neighbours may well be top of the list when it comes to dinner party invitations, but we also want their expertise to hand when it comes to the food being served up from UK kitchens.

Everyday French items such as Brie are also fast becoming UK household essentials. According to a survey by Ocado, just 6 per cent of Brits name the British classic Red Leicester as their favourite cheese, with twice that amount (11 per cent) preferring Brie.

To mark this burgeoning culinary trend, and announce Ocado’s new partnership with French hypermarket Carrefour, a 6ft sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, made from cheese, has taken up temporary residence amongst London landmarks Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Created by renowned sculptor Prudence Staite, the artwork, which took 504 hours to sculpt, is made from a fusion of UK and French cheeses – English Cheddar and Reflets de France Tomme de Savoie, a creamy yet mild cheese.

The sculpture celebrates the fact that UK customers can now fill their baskets with a mouth-watering array of French charcuterie, cheeses, patés, biscuits, jams and confectionery, courtesy of Ocado.

Jason Gissing, co-founder of Ocado said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Reflets de France range. With over 350,000 French nationals living in London alone, the sculpture celebrates a major advance in Ocado's stated long-term strategy of offering the most varied and refined home delivery grocery range available to the UK’s uniquely diverse population and puts us at the forefront of UK food trends. Let’s hope that the introduction of more French goods will keep our customers ahead in the culinary style stakes, whether it’s for dinner parties with friends or rustic home-cooked meals for the family.”

1 - Survey data gathered from 2,000 Brits surveyed between 06- 07 July 2011
2 - All Ocado sales stats are w/c 20th July 2009 Vs w/c 04thJuly 2011 (units).

About Reflets de France:
The Reflets de France range includes 300 products and is dedicated to sourcing produce from France’s culinary heritage. It is now considered to be among France’s top 30 brands. For more information please visit http://www.carrefour.com/cdc/group/current-news/10th-anniversary-of-reflets-de-france.html

About Ocado:

Ocado (www.ocado.com) was established in 2000, started trading in 2002 and is now one of Britain’s leading online supermarkets. Ocado operates a centralised distribution model which means that it does not rely upon a network of stores from which to service customers – orders are fulfilled at a unique, high-automated Customer Fulfilment Centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, before being loaded onto delivery vans making local routes, or transported by HGV to vans stationed at a network of regional UK distribution spokes.

Ocado delivers over 21,000 product lines including Waitrose goods and a growing Ocado own-label range. Last October it was named World E-tailer of the Year at the prestigious World Retail Awards and, last month, won Consumer Initiative of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards for its popular mobile commerce platform.