Asda has launched an innovative new cottage cheese format aimed at shoppers looking for a healthy lunchtime snack.

The 200g cottage cheese snack pot is produced by Arla Foods and contains a tub of cottage cheese, a sachet of tangy tomato chutney and four crackers. It went into stores last week, priced at £1 [BrandView.co.uk].

Asda claims the product “makes lunch a bit more interesting”, adding “cottage cheese is a great solution as it’s high in protein but low in fat”.

The launch comes as interest in cottage cheese is rising. Last month, Holy Cow organic cottage cheese - one of the few branded cottage cheeses - was relisted by Waitrose.

Last year, The Grocer identified snacking as a key opportunity for cottage cheese, and teamed up with design agency Springetts to create new brands and pack designs.

This week, Springetts MD Andy Black said Asda’s snack pot represented “an innovative new look at cottage cheese”. But he added he was disappointed Asda had chosen to simply extend cottage into snacking instead of encouraging consumers to reevaluate cottage cheese more widely.