Arctic Roll makes a comeback

Arctic Roll is making a comeback as consumers look for cheap puddings in a time of economic downturn.

Soggy sponge anyone? The Arctic Roll makes a comeback


Ten years after being axed frozen food company Birds Eye is to bring back the Arctic Roll to target thrifty shoppers.
Trade magazine The Grocer reported the company will relaunch the pudding next month in response to what it describes as ' overwhelming consumer demand' for the ice cream and sponge frozen dessert.
Available in Raspberry Ripple and Triple Chocolate flavours, the new-look Arctic Roll has been given a healthy make-over to appeal to a new generation of Britons and will be backed by a £3 million marketing campaign.
Birds Eye stopped making Arctic Rolls in 1997 after sales dropped by 50 per cent but now the company hopes to capitalise on the growing demand for nostalgic foods and sweets from the 1980s. Last year Cadbury revived Wispa chocolate bars - axed in 2003 - after a huge internet campaign and Blue Smarties were brought back using natural ingredients after being dropped as part of a drive to rid the sweets of artificial colours.
The Arctic Roll first hit the shops 50 years ago and quickly became a firm favourite with families but sales slumped during the 1990s. Birds Eye decided to kill it off, closing down the Gloucester factory where it was made despite a 3,000 signature protest petition from devoted customers.
Now in the wake of the economic downturn hitting shoppers, the company has revived its 1985 ' Make Your Pound Go Further ' campaign to help cash-strapped consumers cope with the downturn and encourage them to try the products.
Marketing director Ben Pearman told The Grocer: " During the 80s the dessert was so popular that more than 25 miles of Arctic Roll were sold per month. We are positive we can reignite this popularity among the new generations. We are not marketing it as an exclusively retro brand and we have plans to launch new products next year.
" While a number of consumers have begun to see the benefits of frozen food, we want this campaign to really drive home the message that frozen is a great-value alternative to fresh and chilled items. " The Arctic Roll would normally have a recommended price of pounds 1.99 but it will be marked down to pounds 1 along with a host of other Birds Eye products as part of the company's new Make Your Pound Go Further With Birds Eye campaign. Omega-3 Fish Fingers, Crispy Chicken and other family products will be sold for pounds 1 in January and February supported by a pounds 1.2 million advertising campaign.
The sweet was invented in the 1950s by Dr Ernest Velden, a Czechoslovakian lawyer, and it helped earn him the OBE in 1983.Dr Velden fled the Nazis in 1939, set up an ice cream factory the following year in Eastbourne, Sussex, and the Arctic Roll hit the shops in 1958. (from telegraph-online)

slice up an arctic roll put some fruit on top ,cover in meringue and pop into the oven to crisp up the meringue

awww i used to love arctic roll....as a child it was a fav of mine....i shall look forward to having a little nibble