kraft heinz weightwatchers mexican bean chilli ready meal

Who: Kraft Heinz

What: Weight Watchers from Heinz: 3 Bean Mexican Chilli with Rice

Where: Frozen ready meals

How much: £2.75/400g

Why: The value of Kraft Heinz’s Weight Watchers brand has been waning for several years - most recently losing another 6.5% to be worth £22.5m [Nielsen 52 w/e September 2018]. However, the decline has slowed since Heinz launched the Balance lineup in autumn 2017. The selection of calorie-controlled frozen ready meals was recently joined by this chilli variant for one person, which provides 82kcal per 100g.

Consumer verdict: Northern consumers were most accepting of the “healthy, convenient” meal, with its “good portion size” and “good blend of flavours”. Elsewhere, shoppers were critical of the “bland and bitter” taste and “mushy mouthfeel”. Such divisiveness meant the product scored well only in the metric for health, with value for money and buying intention notably in the red.

Pre-trial purchase: 36%

Post-trial purchase: 28%

Better than what’s out there: 26%

New and different: 40%

Overall score: 35/50