14/12/2020
New Listings in Londis and Budgens for Anishya Kumar’s AirWraps
Great to see one of the female food founders we featured last year Anishya Kumar is taking her food-to-go company “back to to its roots”, as her AirWraps will be going to over 650 Londis and Budgens convenience stores across the UK from January 2021. From starting in her home kitchen Anishya was given the opportunity to sell her unique AirWraps in local convenience stores in 2015. She then went on to have success with awards and a listing in Tesco.
Now Zinda Foods have secured a listing with Booker Retail to sell 2 new variants of their healthy chilled food-to-go range of wraps branded as the AirWraps from January 2021. It is a sense of déjà vu as the products were originally developed and trialled in a few independent stores back in 2015. They gained considerable consumer demand and subsequently won the company the much-coveted Sammies award in 2017 for the most Innovative Sandwich Product of the year, followed by a breakthrough listing with Tesco.
The company is now thrilled to be given the opportunity to bring the range back to its roots in addition to their ever-growing presence in Tesco stores across the country, which have quickly gained popularity amongst customers.
Speaking about the listing, Founder Anishya Kumar said:
“We are so thrilled to re-launch into Budgens and Londis. They share our belief that food to go should be fresh and nutritious with changing consumer trends, affordable, accessible and of the highest quality. They also helped us massively in cementing our brand in UK supermarkets when we were first starting out. For us, it feels like we’re now able to take the AirWrap back to where it all originally started.”
The two new lines launching are the Chicken Makhni AirWrap and a natural, plant-based Bombay Potato AirWrap. Filled with fresh, bold flavours the fillings come with a 21st century spin on age-old recipes with added health benefits, appealing to consumer tastes and demands for better quality produce in the food to go sections of convenience stores.
Sales of Zinda AirWraps in Tesco have come from under-represented customer groups in the fixture attracting more young people and more blue-collar workers whilst continuing to be popular with the more affluent consumer even during the Pandemic.
An independent survey by Zinda Foods shows that people are desperate for exciting new food and shying away from the traditional sandwich offerings. As people return to their post Covid-19 lives, they are looking for more interesting options, that are ready to eat or versatile as a light dinner alternative & quick to heat at home.
The unique AirWrap base is made by hand and from only 5 ingredients – no palm oil, no trans fats and no preservatives. The fillings also give customers a healthier, lighter and ultimately more delicious alternative to the wraps they might be used to. They will also be packaged in Zinda’s new designs which are sustainable and plastic free. The two new flavours are versatile and can be eaten hot or cold, priced at £2.75 they will be offered to 400 Londis and 250 Budgens stores from the 4th of January, 2021.
Find out more about Zinda Foods here.
Look out for more interviews and news from female founders of food businesses in the coming weeks. In the meantime you can read our interview with food mentor Karen Green, our interview with Juliet Barrett co-founder of Grenade, our interview with Tanya Robertson-Lambert, founder of The Saucy Affair, our interview with Cecily Mills founder of Coconuts Organic ice cream;our interview with Renee Elliott founder of Planet Organic; our interview with Jane Woodhead co-founder of Speakeasy Ice Cream ; our interview with Kim Havelaar founder of Roqberry Tea ; interview with Gemma Colao MD and Co-founder of OTO CBD ; interview with Catherine Farinha founder of The Chefs’ Forum and Sonia Mason founder of Slightly Different Foods.