3Bears, a Germany-based maker of porridge and breakfast bars, is hoping to supercharge its expansion plans after an endorsement by footballer Harry Kane.
England and Bayern Munich star Kane has a minor stake in 3Bears and will act as a brand ambassador, appearing in marketing campaigns and allowing his image to appear on its products.
The Munich-based company is working on a Harry x 3Bears range as part of the striker's involvement.
Its products are already sold by major supermarket chains in its domestic market, Austria and Switzerland, as well as online. It is now eyeing a UK launch in the near future and possibly other markets after that.
The business was established by married couple Caroline and Tim Nichols in 2016. Caroline, who hails from Bavaria, fell in love with porridge when the couple lived in the UK. When they moved to Germany, she became convinced that, amid rising consumer interest in diet and health, the oat-based product could muscle its way into a breakfast market dominated by pretzels and muesli.
Caroline appeared on German business investment pitch TV show Die Höhle der Löwen, a move which led to 3Bears inking distribution deals with the country’s largest supermarket groups.
She admits, however, there is still plenty of work to do to raise the profile of porridge amongst German consumers.
“It’s not the breakfast for the masses but you will see hot cereal or porridge on shelves in most German supermarkets now. The consumption of oats generally is going up as people are researching into health and gut health,” she told Just Food.
Her career in the UK saw her working with FMCG heavyweights in the consumer data area.
“I saw in the data the renaissance of porridge. But even though I fell in love with it I didn’t especially like the consistency of any of the porridge mixes I found in the UK,” she said.
3Bears – named after the English fairytale Goldilocks and the Three Bears – now employs 25 people; manufacturing is outsourced.
Caroline said the company has grown by double digits year-on-year and revenue is now in the euro “double-digit millions”.
On expanding into the UK, she has no fears of launching porridge into a market synonymous with the product.
“The Harry Kane association will help us reach more people there. He just fell in love with the product after we got in touch with his company and people in the UK do like a good story,” she said.
In terms of retail distribution in the UK, she admits that conversations with supermarkets have not started yet.
“But we already have a UK website up and running and we have just launched one in the Netherlands as well. We want to be in stores and online,” she said.
“And we want to have a portfolio of products so we can be the oat brand in every home.”
Kane is also an investor in Insane Grain, a UK-based snack maker. The company launched a product – Insane Kane Strikin' Hot Crisps – alongside announcing his investment last year.
