Established over 40 years ago The Flava People are makers of sauces and seasonings which are both consumer and trade facing. Their bestselling ‘in house’ consumer ranges include their seasonings range Flava It as well as their low sugar sauce range, Blend Brothers whilst their MRC marinade range is made specifically for butchers & farm-shops, with 8/10 butchers in the UK using MRC to add flavour (and value) to their meats and keep their hungry customers coming back for more.
As well as making their own ranges, The Flava People are on a mission to make exciting new trends flavour trends & cuisines more accessible to mainstream consumers. To achieve this The Flava People collaborate with food and restaurant partners who are trailblazers in current flavour demands to create bespoke consumer ‘at home’ ranges for them. Through using their chosen partners consumer appeal, The Flava People can fulfil their goal of amplifying particular flavours, and subsequently fulfilling consumer demand for it. The Flava People’s most successful collaboration to date is the mainstream magnification of Japanese flavour thanks to the creation of their at home Japanese range, YO! which was created in partnership with the UK’s best known Japanese restaurant group YO! Sushi.
Having seen a 44% rise in Asian restaurants across the UK, The Flava People embarked on a project to bring Asian and specifically Japanese flavours direct to people’s homes. Determined to unmask the category and make cooking Japanese food at home accessible and enjoyable they successfully combined their Flava expertise and production knowledge with the insight and experience of YO’s culinary team. The result was YO’s debut range of at home products; 12 easy to use products including Korean Sweet Chilli Sauce, Creamy Japanese Mayo, and Yakitori Sauces now available in Tesco, Waitrose and on Ocado.
Fast becoming a best seller, in 2019 sales of the YO! range were up 300% with over 70% of YO! sales being incremental to the Asian category in store. So, in autumn 2019 The Flava People and YO! once again collaborated to create the YO Katsu range – a six strong easy to use Katsu range including a Katsu Curry Crumb and Mild and Creamy Katsu Coconut Curry Sauce. This has quickly become YO’s hero at home product, meaning the YO! brand is now rolling out to over 2,000 more stores. As a result brand awareness of YO! has gone through the roof thanks to over 15,000 retail facings in 2021.
Scott Dixon, MD of The Flava People comments: “Japanese cuisine is one of the most diverse, flavoursome and creative in the world and it’s finally having it’s big moment in UK retail. The real challenge lay in making it more accessible, affordable and relevant to UK shoppers and YO!, with it’s brand recognition, knowledge and personality, was the perfect partner to help us do this. We’ve really only just gotten started with the potential for the brand across the retail sector.”
Through spotting what consumers want and marrying that with a trusted and mainstream name in Japanese cooking such as YO! The Flava People has been able to create a bestselling range that demystifies Japanese food and enables people to easily access Japanese flavours in the comfort of their own home.
