UK muesli maker Alara WholeFoods is set to add to its portfolio with the launch of two gluten-free lines made with oats.

MD Alex Smith told just-food today (9 July) that Alara would be likely to unveil Pure Oats and Fruity Oats in the next three months.

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Smith said the new lines would offer consumers a cheaper alternative to the products already available in the category.

“There are one or two entries into that particular area and they are very expensive,” Smith said.

Alara, meanwhile, has repackaged its branded portfolio in a bid to give a more “optmistic” tone to the range, Smith said.

The company’s motto is ‘Welcome the Sun’, which it describes as “a shorthand way of signifying the profound move from an unsustainable society relying on fossil fuels to a sustainable one using solar energy”.

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Smith said: “We wanted to find that area in the muesli market that wasn’t being covered by any of our competitors and to match that with the ethics of the company. It’s around the area of optimism. We’re a very optimistic business here.”

He added: “At the moment, society has the opportunity to go through a period of change and come out of that change in an enhanced shape.”

Alara, which generates annual turnover of around GBP5m (US$7.6m), saw sales dip by around 3% in the year to the end of May, Smith said.

However, he added that Alara, which generates three-quarters of its business from manufacturing for other companies and from making own-label products for retailers, had seen sales of its branded products had risen by 20% over the year.

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