Little Dish ambient meals and cooking sauces

Babyfood brand Little Dish has made its first move into ambient meals with the launch of a four-strong range based on “all-time family favourites”.

The quartet for toddlers comprises Baked Beans, Spaghetti Hoops, Macaroni Cheese and Tomato Soup, with each containing “hidden” vegetables such as cauliflower, butternut squash and carrots, offering one of a child’s 5 a day per single-serve pot (rsp: £1.25/190g). The recipes include no added sugar and are low in salt.

Rolling out at Morrisons, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Ocado, they will be joined on shelf by a new Little Dish cooking sauce range. Classic Tomato and Mild Korma take the same low-salt, no added sugar approach (rsp: £1/80g).

“Family favourites like baked beans and spaghetti hoops shouldn’t contain added sugar or sweeteners, so we’ve worked hard to put that right,” said the brand’s managing director, Dean Brown. “It’s an exciting move for Little Dish as it further builds our presence in the baby aisle and takes our healthy food for kids into the kitchen cupboard.”

The launch comes with Little Dish in double-digit growth following the relaunch last autumn of its chilled ready meals and the addition of a soups range. The brand has added 16.6% in value sales to £8.3m [IRI 52 w/e 26 November 2016].