New portion packs for Tate & Lyle's Golden Syrup

Ingredients group Tate & Lyle has made further inroads into the bakings, toppings and spreads market with the introduction of new portion sized packaging for its signature Golden Syrup product.

The launch forms part of the UK company's £750,000 (€1.1m) investment in press and poster advertising this year which has been pushing topping usage ahead of out-of-home winter porridge sales.

The pre-Christmas period is a particularly profitable time for the brand, given consumer preference for porridge as a hot breakfast choice in the cold weather and Golden Syrup's leading position within the topping sector.

Tate & Lyle Catering Sales Development Manager Jon Walker told confectionerynews.com: "Golden Syrup has always been traditionally associated with porridge.

"We noticed that sales of the syrup were growing and found that the fastest growing category was as a porridge topping. Now we're seeing it more and more on menus."

Reflecting this trend, Golden Syrup usage has increased by 48 per cent and sales of easy-to-pour bottles have risen 22.5 per cent year-on-year.

Senior brand manager Alison Ashman said: "We are now looking to maximise success for the catering trade. Providing the distinctive taste of Lyle's Golden Syrup via portion-controlled servings for their customers is the perfect format."

Tate & Lyle's iconic Golden Syrup brand holds an 88.2 per cent share of the niche syrup market and, according to the company, is worth £19.3m (€28.8m).

The new single serve packets, containing 37 calories each, will be sold from the end of this month in packs of 200 11g easy-to-open sachets.

They are also suitable for use on toast and pancakes and join Tate & Lyle's pre-Christmas seasonal syrup product launches.

Available in time for the festive season are limited edition pouring bottles of Golden Syrup with rum and festive spices along with Golden Syrup with brandy and festive fruits.

Already available in the range are squeezy syrup bottles in a range of flavours such as blackcurrant, banoffee and toffee.

Lyle's Golden Syrup was first developed in 1885. Lyle merged with Henry Tate & Sons in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle - now one of the biggest ingredients groups in the world.