Russia’s biggest snack picks EGS for 2m UK launch task
EdwardsGroomSaunders (EGS) has won the media planning task for Russia’s biggest savoury snack brand BeerKa ahead of its UK launch.
EGS won the business – understood to be worth up to £2m – after pitching against MediaVest Manchester.
Brand owner Sibirsky Bereg, which has more than 15% of the Russian savoury snack market – ahead of international rivals such as PepsiCo – already sells products in eastern Europe and Australia. It is expected to launch BeerKa, a dried bread snack, in the UK later this year.
BeerKa is baked rather than fried, and will be promoted as a healthier and tastier rival to crisps, nuts and pork scratchings. It is thought the brand and marketing will be targeted at young, beerand lager-drinking males.
In 2005, Sibirsky Bereg set up a subsidiary, Unisnack, to manufacture and sell the snacks in Australia. It markets the brand there as "The ultimate snack for ultimate beer pleasure" and "the perfect partner to beer – makes beer twice as good", and is aiming for a 5% share of the Australian snack market.
Sibirsky Bereg was founded in 1999 and overtook PepsiCo as market leader in Russia in 2005. According to research company Datamonitor, the market for savoury snacks in Russia grew at an average annual rate of 13.4% between 2000 and 2005.
