It’s time for a renaissance for Mousline mash. Swiss food giant Nestlé recently parted ways with the famous sachet purée. The brand, which will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary in 2023, was absorbed by the French investment fund FNB Private Equity, specialized in SMEs in the agri-food sector.
The new majority shareholder shows its ambitions: the Picardy SME today reaches 80 million euros in annual turnover and “we want to increase it to 100 million euros in three years”, said the new leader of Mousline and former CEO of Nestlé Waters Benelux , Philippe Fardel, during a press conference.
Abandoned by Nestlé, Mousline fell asleep. To find a new youth, the company relies on restaurants. It already generates 20% of its turnover in restaurants and canteens, thanks to packaging adapted to professionals in the sector, and intends to increase it to 30%. The aim is to offer a basic “bistro product”, especially for places that offer daily specials, which could be appropriated by adding other ingredients, such as butter or parsley, Philippe Fardel said. Mainly because the restaurateurs “lack manpower”… and that peeling the potatoes takes a lot of time.
No “premiumization”
Mousline does not forget supermarkets, its main target: the brand, which no longer has national brand competitors, occupies 70% of the dehydrated purees market in value. Bag puree, sometimes victim of its image contrary to “homemade”, wants to stick to the new expectations of consumers; the flavorings have already been eliminated in 2020 and the emulsifier will disappear by 2024, leaving only three ingredients in the plain version, which represents the majority of the volumes sold. In addition to the work on the recipes, or some novelties, a new communication campaign will also be launched. The latest dates from 2018.
An economical product, but that should see its price increased on the shelves. No price increases have been requested from the big retailers since the spring, but the new management believes that it is no longer possible to ignore them. “We are talking about 20%” of price increases necessary to go to large distribution, the new manager of the company has pointed out. Around 20,000 tons of potato flakes leave the Picardy factory every year, including almost 12,000 tons allocated to France. Between 13 and 20 million euros will be invested in its only factory in Rosières-en-Santerre, on the Somme, over the next three years.
Source: BFM TV
