Northern Foods today hailed a cartoon character called Vinnie for helping to boost sales at its Fox's biscuits arm.
Fox's achieved its highest brand share since 2006 after the third instalment of a television and online advertising campaign based around Vinnie, a cross between a panda and a dog.
The Fox's bakery division saw underlying sales improve by 3.9 pe
r cent in the 26 weeks to September 26, as Northern said it continued to trade in line with expectations.
Revenues for the group, which is a major supplier to the UK supermarkets, climbed by 2.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis following volume growth of 2.5 per cent.
Group sales and profits are weighted towards the current half-year, with Christmas trading driven by businesses such as Matthew Walker puddings.
In the company's other divisions, chilled revenues rose by 8.8 per cent after it introduced new discount lines in sandwiches and salads.
However, Northern warned profitability in chilled was being impacted by slower volumes and investment in ready meals, while new discount ranges will also impact on margins.
Underlying revenues in frozen foods were down 7.5 per cent on a year earlier, but Northern said this reflected a rebalancing of the business towards higher margin contracts.
It closed a pizza manufacturing site in Ireland last year and surrendered several marginal own-label contracts.
Stefan Barden, the chief executive, said: "Northern Foods has
shown its resilience during the first half, in tough market conditions.
"We continue to invest in our brands and businesses and we have a range of opportunities to drive shareholder value in the coming years.
"As usual, group sales and profits are weighted to the second half of our financial year.
"At this stage of the year, we expect to report results in line with market expectations."
There was no mention of plans to close the Hull ready meals site, with the loss of 350 jobs, as forecast by analysts.
