Princes relaunches Crisp ‘n Dry cooking oil

Princes Foods is to bring cooking oil Crisp ‘n Dry back to UK television screens as it prepares to relaunch the brand and revive its once-iconic status.

Princes has not appointed an agency to work on the advertising, but will initially revive the “kitchen-towel test” in its marketing communications. However, it is likely that the company will appoint an agency on a project basis to create a TV campaign.

The test will feature on labels as part of a number of pack-design changes in what the company describes as a move “to reflect the brand’s strong heritage”.Crisp ‘n Dry was known in the UK for the kitchen-towel test, which helped to make the brand the UK’s leading cooking oil in the 1980s.

Earlier this year, Princes bought Crisp ‘n Dry from Unilever, along with the Cookeen, Mazola and Spry brands, for an undisclosed sum. The Liverpool-based company plans to invest in marketing Crisp ‘n Dry, which has not been advertised for more than five years.

Princes marketing director Remmelt Jongkind says: “Brand awareness for Crisp ‘n Dry is still at 84 per cent, despite a lack of investment in the product for several years. Research shows that many consumers still associate the kitchen-towel test with the brand, even though it hasn’t been used in TV or print advertising for years.”

According to Jongkind, Princes has “a 64 per cent branded share in a &£106m cooking oil category” following the deal with Unilever. He adds: “Princes wants to re-invigorate the category and drive further growth as we have in the olive oil sector with Napolina.”

Princes also produces the Flora and Olivio cooking oil brands under licence from Unilever. It has the single biggest share of the total cooking oils market, with 24 per cent of overall volume and a 64 per cent brand share in edible oils.