New Frü Strawberry and Raspberry Trifles follow on from the success of Gü Chocolate Trifles, launched in May 2008 and recently nominated a Must Stock Product by The Grocer.

The new Frü Trifles will add value to the growing fruity range and offer different consumer eating occasions, from picnics to sitting in front of the telly. They also aim to drive further interest in the trifle market which is estimated to be worth £97m (source: AC Nielson June 2008).

Revolutionising the traditional trifle market, Frü’s new trifles feature fruit at the top as opposed to the bottom, giving consumers an instant fruit fix. They’re made with juicy berries, Bourbon vanilla custard, fresh whipped cream and vanilla sponge. Like their chocolate counterparts, Frü Strawberry & Raspberry Trifles are presented in 100% recyclable pots and striking white packaging.

This month also sees the launch of new Frü Seasonal Summer Puds which feature a compote of six summer fruits, including raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, a light sponge and a fruity syrup.

With less than 100 calories in each pud, they offer consumers a lighter, refreshing eat and deliver an intense fruit fix. Frü Seasonal Summer Puds are presented in stylish ramekins, perfect for stylish entertaining or as a midweek treat.

These new puds form part of Frü’s aggressive NPD programme which will include more new pudding launches throughout the year.

Becs Sears, Marketing Manager of Frü Fruity Puds and Gü Chocolate Puds, comments: “The Frü brand is worth approximately £5m in the UK and it is predicted that these exciting new products will add an extra £4m to the brand. There is clearly a big opportunity in the market for premium fruity puddings that deliver quality and innovation and Frü is perfectly poised to fill it.”

Frü is investing £200k in marketing support for the new launches which includes sampling, a new Frü website, print advertising and PR.

Frü Strawberry & Raspberry Trifles retail at £2.39 for 2 x 115g trifles and are available from Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Booths, Waitrose and Ocado.

Frü Seasonal Summer Puds retail at £2.99 for 2 x 90g ramekins and are also available from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Booths and Ocado.

A spokesman for Superquinn and its owners, Select Retail Holdings (SRH), said “more than one” major British supermarket group had approached Goldman Sachs after the investment bank handled the sale of Bernard McNamara’s 14.5 percent stake in the chain in the spring.

“There was a disposal earlier this year from one of the original investors and it would appear that on the back of that there have been some expressions of interest,” he said.

He declined to comment further beyond stating that SRH was “not actively looking to sell the business”.

Superquinn has 23 stores and a 7 percent share of the Irish grocery market.

Irish newspapers have put a price tag on the business of around 450 million euros (360 million pounds) and named possible suitors as Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, Asda, owned by Wal-Mart Stores, and J Sainsbury.

However, a spokeswoman for Waitrose said the retailer had not made an approach. Asda and Sainsbury declined to comment.

The newspapers said competition rules would probably prevent Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, from buying Superquinn as it is already the second-biggest player in the Irish grocery market. Tesco also declined to comment.

Waitrose opened its first convenience store yesterday, in Nottingham. The 5,815 sq ft (540 sq m) shop, in the city’s Trinity Square, is located opposite the John Lewis department store and is the first of a four-branch convenience store trial.

The shop has fresh fish and meat counters, a bakery and a self-service food bar where shoppers can select from smoothies, granola and yoghurts in the morning and sandwiches and salads for lunch and evening meals.

Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: “We believe you shouldn’t have to compromise on the standard of your shopping experience just because a store is smaller and designed for convenience. We want to revive the traditional service typical of convenience shops, which customers value, but within a fresh and contemporary setting.”

Waitrose plans to open a second convenience store in Bristol in the spring.

* Published: 12 December 2008 12:47

While online grocery shopping continues to grow at a rapid pace in the UK, it appears to be a different story across the Atlantic. In the past week the competitive UK market has digested the news that Waitrose is scrapping its delivery charges and Ocado is to sell 4,000 Waitrose own-label products at a cheaper price than is available in the grocer’s own stores.

The former is bound to have repercussions, as the other major grocers take a close look at their delivery-charging models, and although the latter will have less impact on the wider market it does signify how desperate Ocado is to grow its share of business.

In contrast, in the US, Albertsons announced that it is to stop its home delivery for online orders in all its markets. The only thing it is retaining in certain areas is online ordering for collection in-store, which it says customers regard as a convenient way to shop.

The divergence in the two markets must largely be down to the high density of delivery drops achievable in the UK whereas the vast distances between shoppers in the US does not justify the cost to retailers of offering home delivery services for low margin grocery products. This is undoubtedly why it is still viable in higher density conurbations like New York where FreshDirect is a popular service.

This is at the heart of why Tesco is the world’s biggest online grocer and the significantly larger US market has nothing that comes close to comparing with it.

“We want to ramp up the volumes,” said Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose. “Delivery charges are a real irritation for customers when they’re spending £90 on a shop.”

Britain’s worst recession in more than two decades has heaped pressure on supermarket chains to pitch their pricing strategies correctly as customers tighten their belts.

Waitrose, with 200 branches across the UK, has benefited as people eat out less, according to Mr Price. The chain, which recorded a 6pc jump in sales over Easter compared with last year, said it was winning customers from rivals such as J Sainsbury.

Owned by The John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose is betting that its move will help prise shoppers away from rivals in the online grocery market, which it claims will enjoy sales of £13bn within four years.

The charges will cease from Wednesday although the Waitrose Deliver service will still require a minimum order of £50. Waitrose Entertaining, its service for party food and drink, does not have a minimum order requirement.

The decision to scrap the charges comes in the same week that shoppers at online delivery service Ocado will be able to buy Waitrose food cheaper online than from the supermarket for the first time.

John Lewis Partnership has a stake in Ocado but does not fully own it, so the internet delivery company is able to charge what it likes for Waitrose products.

Mr Price has said there are many promotions that Waitrose runs in store that Ocado does not offer. The free delivery is not being offered by Ocado.

Mr Price said trading in the first three months had been better than expected and he was in the optimists camp regarding the rest of 2009.