Flora is kicking off 2016 with a new dairy-free variant called ‘Flora Freedom’ and a £12.5 million brand repositioning campaign called ‘Powered by Plants’.

Unilever UK is focusing on the brand’s health credentials and tapping into the growth in demand for ‘free from’ products.

The ‘Powered by Plants’ campaign will celebrate the brand’s health credentials by highlighting all of its plant-based ingredients. These include rapeseed oil, linseed oil and sunflower oil, which are rich in Vitamin E, high in Omega 3 and 6 and lower in saturated fat than butter. Flora is also free from artificial flavours and colours.

The relaunch will run across all Flora core variants, including Flora Original, Flora Buttery, Flora Light, Flora Gold and Flora Cuisine, and will involve a new modern and natural-looking design, available to all retailers from mid-January.

The campaign forms part of a £12.5 million spend across 2016, which includes a new TV advert launching on February 15, which will showcase the amazing power of plants and their ability to grow healthy, happy families.

Flora is further supporting its reposition with the launch of a new dairy-free variant, Flora Freedom, which will be available to all retailers from mid-January. The new variant is set to offer consumers a great tasting dairy-free spread at the same price point as Flora’s core variants (rrp £1.70 per 500g).

According to YouGov 2015, 12% of UK households have a suspected dairy allergy or intollerance but currently only 1% of the spreads market is dairy-free.

Flora marketing manager at Unilever UK James Brennan said: “Celebrating the plant-based ingredients in Flora and the resulting health benefits will reposition the brand back to its heartland of being a healthy alternative to butter. Over the course of this campaign we look to support Mums as they build their healthy, happy families.”

Flora is 80% lower in saturated fat than butter and contains Omega 3 and 6. 100% oils in Flora are from plants. Reducing consumption of saturated fat contributes to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels.