Britain is falling in love with porridge it would seem. Recent data from PepsiCo report that sales of their brands Quaker and Oats So Simple are bubbling up just like the microwavable breakfast that's gaining popularity.
Things have moved on; we're not talking about porridge that takes hours to cook, dreamy moments spent gazing out of the window, as you rhythmically stir your spurtle, are a thing of the past. Today's porridge is ready faster than you can boil the kettle thanks to the invention of instant brands such as Oats So Simple.
The two brands, Quaker and Oats So Simple are seeing an investment of nearly £4.5million to its manufacturing site in Cupar, Fife so as to increase production capacity by a third up to 85,000 tonnes a year. This follows £8.5million which was injected into the site only last year for expansion, such is the demand for porridge.
Oats So Simple is packaged in a paper sachet that contains the oats, which when you rip the top off and empty leaves you with the perfect receptacle for measuring the exact amount of milk required to cook your oats. It is to this bagging line that most of the changes will occur as high-speed technology is introduced as well as 30 new jobs.
All this is thanks to the value of the hot cereals market rising by 30% in the past two years to £157million, with sales of Oats So Simple being up by 44% alone. It's not just the Brits who are realising the health benefits of the humble oat - exports have also gone up by 18% in the past 5 years.