Bernard Matthews is moving back into the children's cooked meats category with the launch of a functional range - its first new kids' line since the Turkey Twizzlers debâcle three years ago.

The Packed Munch range, which is rolling out now, takes Bernard Matthews into a new area by focusing on the added Omega-3 and calcium in the sliced turkey products. Aimed at the kids' lunchbox market, the range is low in fat and contains no artificial colours or flavours.

It is made up of three variants - turkey breast slices with calcium, turkey ham slices with Omega-3 and turkey breast slices with Omega-3. An 80g pack is priced £1.

The launch was an ideal opportunity to grow the declining children's sliced meat sector, which was down 13% to £8.1m last year, said marketing controller Gerard O'Mahony. "I am confident Packed Munch can increase the market by 25% and reach £2m in sales in its first full year," he said.

"Parents are becoming conscious of what they put in their kids' lunchboxes, particularly with schools taking an active role in policing lunchboxes."

All new products in the children's cooked meats category will be launched under the new brand, added O'Mahony.

Packs have been designed to promote the 'fun factor' for kids, while flagging up GDAs front-of-pack and its Source of Omega-3 logo.

Bernard Matthews ditched its Turkey Twizzlers in 2005 after it was hit by bad publicity. The brand was in the firing line of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who slated the product in his Channel 4 show Jamie's Dinners, using it as an example of the poor quality of food served to kids in schools.

The company then launched a new strategy last year to reposition turkey as a low-fat superfood.

The only other children's product in the Bernard Matthews range is the £3m Dino Roll brand, which was launched in 2004 [IRI 52 w/e to 23 February 2007].

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