Kerry Foods is going head-to-head with Unilever with a new functional spreads brand that echoes the look and feel of Flora.

Exclusive to Tesco, Smart Health is available in two variants - standard and light - and comes in 500g tubs, with the standard version also available in a 1kg pack.

Smart Health tubs are highly reminiscent of the Flora design - the brand name appears in a heart-shaped motif, and the tub shape is also similar to Flora's. 

On price, however, Smart Health significantly undercuts Flora and has been on constant promotion since its launch in August.

At £1.40 for a 500g tub, Smart Health costs 30p less than the equivalent Flora product, while at £2.45, the 1kg pack is 53p cheaper than a 1kg tub of Flora Original or Light [BrandView.co.uk]. 

The launch of Smart Health is the latest in a line of colourful new brands in Tesco's fresh foods category, which - although owned by suppliers - are exclusive to Tesco. Other products include Fresh & Naked salad (owned by G's Fresh), which was launched in May 2010, and Mu Cheddar (owned by Adams Foods), which rolled out to Tesco shelves earlier this month. 

Tesco also launched Yoo, an own-label but non-Tesco-branded yoghurt range produced by Nom Dairy, in March 2011. 

Kerry Foods dairy spreads manager Claire Jacobs would not say whether Smart Health had been developed specifically for Tesco, but said it was currently only stocked in Tesco stores. 

The brand was designed to "enable consumers to buy a spread that they know is the smart option for their healthy lifestyle", she added.

Unilever said it was the company's policy not to comment on other brands, and Tesco referred The Grocer to Kerry for comment. 

Flora is the bestselling brand in the vegetable spreads category, with sales up 3.2% to £194.2m in the 52 weeks to 19 March 2011 [SymphonyIRI].