A family food firm specialising in duck reared in East Anglia has teamed up with Suffolk celebrity cookery writer Delia Smith as it promotes the meat to new markets.
Gressingham Foods, based at Debach, near Woodbridge, and run by brothers William and Geoffrey Buchanan, will be using a voiceover by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville to encourage more people to try out duck.
As part of a radio advertising campaign this month, scheduled to run across the greater London, Midlands and South area on Classic FM, listeners will hear the voice of the actor as it promotes duck as a simple but impressive dish to prepare at home and encourages listeners to visit the website to sign up for a free recipe booklet.
Running alongside the on-air campaign, the firm has linked up with bestselling cookery author Delia Smith to launch a competition to win a Delia cookware set through Delia Online.
The radio campaign will run for 10 weeks and is set to reach 3.5 million ABC1 adults.
The Delia Online competition will run for three months and will be featured on more than 500,000 packs of Gressingham branded fresh duck products.
In 2013, Delia launched her free online cookery school and this was followed by the Delia Online Cookery School equipment range.
The aim of the Gressingham radio campaign is to drive brand awareness and increase the number of households willing to try out fresh duck.
Delia Online advertising and promotions manager Lorraine Adams said the site received more than three million page views a month from members looking for recipe inspiration. “Our partnership with Gressingham Duck is a great initiative and one that will share Delia Online’s love of cooking with duck,” she said.
The on-pack promotion offers consumers the chance to win one of 20 Delia cookware kits which consist of a salt and pepper mill, saucepan, cook’s apron and a pair of oven gloves.
Steve Curzon, associate marketing director for Gressingham Duck, said: “Delia Smith is without doubt one of the nation’s favourites, so we are delighted to be working with Delia Online and their new cookware range.”
Both campaigns will be supported with promotions in major retailers throughout the period.
Gressingham Foods has gone from strength to strength in recent years to become a national brand and is a principal supplier of duck to the UK retail sector.
The family business was founded in 1971 and is the only company in the world licensed to produce Gressingham Duck, a unique cross-breed of wild Mallard and Pekin.
It has built on the success of the Gressingham Duck, and extended its product portfolio to include geese and poultry as well as speciality meats and ready meals under the Gressingham Foods name.
It wants to target ABC1 “couples that cook” for its Gressingham Duck products.
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