St Pierre launches with international retail giant, Costco

St Pierre, seller of brioche, has acquired new distribution with one of the country’s largest retailers, Costco.

The brand will launch its Brioche Burger Buns and Brioche Hot Dog Rolls into 57 Costco warehouses in Northern California from early May. As part of its partnership with the retailer both products will, for the first time, be twin-packed creating a specific club pack for Costco.

California has the highest number of Costco locations across America, accounting for 23 percent of the portfolio. St Pierre will now sell through more than 10 percent of the chain’s stores, driving a significant increase in distribution for the European brand.

After launching into America in 2014, St Pierre has secured brioche a regular spot in shoppers’ baskets and as the category leader, it continues to deliver growth opportunities for retailers.

In 2018, the total brioche category was worth $152mn, but by the end of 2020, the brioche sector had more than doubled, with category value standing at $394mn. Nielsen data (February 2021) shows that St Pierre is key to driving value for retailers and is responsible for a third of the market.

Paul Baker, founder of St Pierre Groupe which owns the St Pierre Bakery brand, comments, “The launch into Costco represents a step change for our business. The team has worked incredibly hard and with the support of our distribution partner Lipari Foods, we have become the number one brioche brand in America—but there is still huge opportunity. That’s why we are investing in our in-house capabilities in terms of sales and marketing, with professionals who bring with them years of experience in the US retail market, working with big name brands."

“We have been busy working on a proposition that will appeal to the Warehouse and Club store market and the launch into Costco is the first example of that work coming to fruition. We have a unique and exciting opportunity to create a household name brand and we’re planning to make lots of noise this year."

St Pierre has driven the Brioche category with 63 percent brand growth year-on-year, whilst the rest of the category has grown at 61 percent. Research from the brand shows that 34 percent of consumers are buying brioche every time they go grocery shopping. Nielsen, U.S. Foods data (March 2021) demonstrates that the brand has consistently outpaced private label brioche in value sales for the past 12 months.

Previously available only as a four-pack, it is the first-time the larger format six pack Brioche Burger Buns will retail in the U.S. market. The 6 pack Brioche Burger Buns and 6 pack Brioche Hot Dog Rolls will retail as larger twin-packs at Costco, in bold shelf-ready cases from early May.

For more information, visit www.stpierrebakery.com.