DANISH bacon marketers have launched a tactical assault on the UK market to encourage consumers to seek out Danish at the point of sale.
Danish bacon already enjoys the highest level of awareness in the retail market place, with over 90% of shoppers recognising the brand.
That compares with 46% who have heard of British Quality Standard and 19% who recognise Royal Dutch Crest.
But sales of Danish bacon have remained static in the UK at about 110,000t a year since the mid-1990s.
This is despite a 25% decline in the quantity of British product available over the same period, to just 175,000t.
The main beneficiaries have been the Dutch, who have pushed tonnages up from about 100,000t in 1995 to over 150,000t last year.
John Howard, Danish Bacon and Meat Council marketing director in the UK, said he is quite comfortable with Danish's performance.
But he is not complacent.
With Dutch pig production coming down, he expects the Netherlands to focus increasingly on the added-value parts of the bacon market.
The 2003 Danish bacon campaign in the UK is therefore focused on the retail sector, where Danish is the dominant brand, with 36% of pre-pack rashers.
Adverts in the consumer press are based on the theme "The Packet of Bacon explained".
"We want to encourage consumers to look for the Danish logo and think about country of origin," said Mr Howard.
There is also increased emphasis on radio advertising, with the familiar "sizzle" broadcast on various sponsored programmes.
And between now and August, DBMC plans to put out more than 4m packs of bacon into UK stores with a new "sizzle" logo.
"It takes a long time to build a brand," said Mr Howard. "Our job is to maintain consumer goodwill towards it."
