Asda Chicken pie

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Who: Asda

What: Classic Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pie

Where: Chilled ready meals

When: Launched May 2014

How much: £2.28/400g

Why: Horsegate dented the ready meals market last year, but it remains a £1.4bn category and one of the hotbeds of own-label innovation. While much of the NPD is around up-and-coming exotic cuisines, English dishes remain the most popular ready meals category - valued at £450m [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 8 December 2013] - and Asda is targeting this market with its version of the tradition chicken and bacon pie.

Consumer verdict: Asda’s take on this dish generated a good level of pre-trial interest. As with the Rustlers Noodles (p47), there was a big difference in how the product was rated by testers in different parts of the country. Northerners liked it - scoring it 46 overall - with some referring to “good sized pieces of chicken,” while Southerners scored just 20 and criticised it for being “too processed, salty and mushy.” Ultimately, 42% of respondents said they would never buy it, while 29% said they would buy it at least once a month.

Pre-trial purchase: 25%

Post-trial purchase: 37%

Better than what’s out there: 41%

New and different: 38%

Overall score: 31/50

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