(Photo: LinkedIn)
April 2, 2019
Shoppers will have noticed three new varieties of peanut butter gracing supermarket shelves lately … and they all have an intimate connection to Kingaroy.
The three new Bega products – “Simply Nuts Smooth”, “Simply Nuts Crunchy” and “Simply Nuts Rustic Grind” – are all made from 100 per cent Australian peanuts which have passed through Kingaroy’s peanut silos.
The peanuts have been grown in the South Burnett, Central Queensland, Bundaberg and North Queensland areas and then transported via Kingaroy to Melbourne for processing into peanut paste.
The Australian peanuts are being kept segregated from imported products, which are still necessary because local production does not meet the Australian market’s demand for peanuts – a situation that Bega hopes to change one day.
Bega is positioning the new all-natural range as premium products and – adding to this product differentiation – they are being sold in 325g glass jars with black lids.
The “Smooth” and “Crunchy” varieties also include “a pinch” of sea salt, according to Bega, but the “Rustic Grind” includes nothing at all except Australian peanuts.
“Bega Simply Nuts” is the first brand to be launched by Bega Cheese since it took over the Peanut Company of Australia last year.
Bega Foods Executive general manager Adam McNamara said the new product had been developed because of the increasing consumer focus on health and wellness.
Advertising to support the supermarket rollout will begin in a few weeks.
Mr McNamara said a new line had been installed at Bega’s Melbourne food processing facility to handle the new products.
“There is a definite market for natural peanut butter which has been experiencing significant growth,” he said.
He said the new product range was 100 per cent Australian … 100 per cent Australian nuts processed by a 100 per cent Australian-owned company.
“Bega is really excited and proud about this product and what it represents,” Mr McNamara said.
He said this year’s peanut harvest had been affected by the drought in dryland growing areas, but had been positive in the Bundaberg area and Atherton Tablelands.
“Bega has been actively working to support farmers to increase the supply of peanuts in Australia, and that is ongoing,” he said.
“The plantings are certainly looking positive.”
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Bega’s regular range of peanut butter – sold in the familiar plastic jars with yellow lids – will still be sold in supermarkets alongside the new range.
A complicated intellectual property dispute between Bega Cheese and multinational food company Kraft, which has been mentioned in both Australian and US courts, is still ongoing.
