From Guinness gravy to Baileys sauces… The Flava People MD Scott Dixon on pairing flavour expertise with brand licensing

Scott, can you give us a brief introduction to The Flava People?
The Flava People began life in 1976 when my grandad, Roy, created simple, great-tasting seasonings and sauces that butchers could use to add value to their counters – himself being a butcher. When the traditional high-street butchery trade declined through the Eighties and Nineties – driven by increased competition from the major UK grocery retailers – the business had to evolve… Rather than shift away from our roots, we expanded on them.

We moved into retail and B2B industrial, developing bespoke products and own-label innovation for customers who needed flavour solutions that were affordable, accessible and consistent. Over time, we’ve become known for marrying deep flavour expertise with brand licensing, helping household names like YO!, Guinness, Baileys, Pinch of Nom and Mob translate their brand into products that elevate everyday meals.

You joined the business in 2011 and brought experience from the advertising agency world in regard to branding. Were there some key learnings you shared with the wider business on your arrival?
Coming from the advertising world, the biggest shift I brought into the business was the idea that flavour alone isn’t enough – you need a story and a brand world to wrap around it. When I joined, we were brilliant at creating products, but we weren’t yet harnessing the power of brands to bring them to life.

I started embedding more brand-led thinking: understanding what makes a brand resonate, shaping packaging and messaging around real consumer insight, and using emotional connection as a strategic tool. That mindset ultimately paved the way for us to build a licensing model where we could take beloved brands and use them to unlock new categories and shopper behaviours.

“A brand must have strong consumer trust, a clear flavour ‘point of view’ and long-term ‘stretch’ potential across multiple formats.”

Your first licensing partnership was with YO! Sushi. What was it about YO! Sushi that seemed like a good fit for The Flava People?
YO! was the perfect first partner because it had huge recognition and fame, and a very clear flavour identity at a moment when British consumers were becoming curious about Japanese cuisine. It struck the right balance between authenticity and accessibility. We saw a huge opportunity to bring that world into retail and allow shoppers to recreate YO!’s iconic flavours at home, which marked the first Japanese product expansion into retail in 2019.

YO! essentially validated our licensing model and opened the door for future partnerships. Almost seven years on, our core YO! Range has remained in retail as a staple product, and we’ve launched countless innovation into new categories since.

When assessing new licensing opportunities for The Flava People, are there key attributes a brand must possess to be viable for you?
We’re disciplined in choosing partners. A brand must have strong consumer trust, a clear flavour ‘point of view’, the ability to drive incrementality and long-term ‘stretch’ potential across multiple formats and channels. Brands like Baileys, Guinness, YO!, Mob and Pinch of Nom work for us because they offer all of that – emotional resonance paired with distinctive flavour territory and an ownable consumer need state.

Thinking more broadly, it seems that British consumers are more adventurous taste-wise these days. What factors do you think are driving this change?
A mix of travel, global high-street restaurant culture, social media and the desire to recreate “eat out” moments at home is driving this shift. TikTok has made global flavours mainstream, and younger consumers in particular use food as a form of expression. People want comfort but also curiosity – familiar dishes with bold, global twists. Licensed brands help retailers and operators deliver that balance with instant trust and credibility.

When you partner with a brand, how do you achieve balance and harmony around packaging, flavour and product development? Do you have to be one part diplomat and four parts product developer?
There’s definitely diplomacy involved, but fundamentally it’s a creative partnership. Packaging must feel unmistakably like the brand, flavour must meet fan expectations and format must work from an operational standpoint. We’re not here to plaster a logo on packaging – we’re here to bring a brand’s personality to life through flavour from concept to launch. It’s a blend of respect, innovation, collaboration and commercial thinking.

“Branded dishes reduce hesitation and drive trial because consumers already trust the brand behind the flavour.”

Some of your partnerships are with restaurant and pub chains. How do you think this sector could capitalise further on the opportunities around brand licensing and NPD?
There is huge untapped opportunity. Branded dishes reduce hesitation and drive trial because consumers already trust the brand behind the flavour. That translates into margin, menu differentiation and social-media appeal.

Our Guinness x Stonegate Six Nations collaboration in 2025 is a great example, driving an uplift of around 130,000 Guinness pints sales alongside branded food. We’re seeing many QSR operators take learnings from US markets, with expansion of brand licensing across menus in driving effective differentiation that aligns with the masses. The next opportunity is more strategic, long-term brand-led menu platforms with permanent menu items that can justify premium pricing & drive repeat visits – think Jack Daniels BBQ ribs x TGI.

“It’s our most ambitious year for category stretch and brand-world expansion.”

How does The Flava People track trends and changes in the market? How far ahead are you planning your NPD?
We track trends through consumer insight, social listening, chef feedback, international travel trends, retailer strategy and close collaboration with our brand partners. We plan anywhere from six months to two years ahead depending on the category, with one of our launches this year achieving a record-breaking three-month concept-to-launch – six times faster than our competitive set. Our size means we can move quickly when something takes off but also build long-term pipelines for strategic partners.

Without naming names, could you share an example where a licensing partnership didn’t work as expected, and what lessons you learned?
We’ve had partnerships where the brand equity was strong, but the usage occasion wasn’t clear enough. The big learning was that brand love alone isn’t enough – consumers must instantly see how and when they’ll use the product. It reinforced the importance of clarity, alignment and format relevance and has since made our selection criteria sharper.

If you had to flag one piece of NPD from 2025 that you’re particularly proud of, what would it be and why?
It’s got to be the Guinness gravy cans. Brand-slapping doesn’t work, at least not in the medium/long-term. You need packaging and an innovative product that stands out and performs whether it has that big brand logo on it or not – that way the brand is the cherry on top. That’s the test we run everything through and the Guinness gravy cans are the perfect example of this, with ‘chaos’ packaging that’s both unexpected and yet makes absolute sense… It’s a premium product that gets people coming back for more.

What new products are you most looking forward to launching this year?
2026 is a big year for us. We’re moving into categories where flavour licensing hasn’t historically played and bringing some of our strongest brand partners into entirely new at-home meal components. It’s our most ambitious year for category stretch and brand-world expansion. We also have a new range of products and a format that’s a retail-first, leaning heavily into the trending desire for more crispy/crunchy/craveable recipes at home!

And finally, if you are hosting a dinner party – what’s on the menu, and how would your products feature?
I love a good theme for a dinner party – building a menu around it, layering in flavours and weaving products into it… Right now I’d go for a an ‘Irish-American’ theme with a slow cooked beef brisket sub dipped in Guinness gravy and an Irish shortbread-style ice cream cookie sandwich with Baileys chocolate sauce for dessert!

Sold! Thanks again Scott.