Heinz is heating up the competition in instant pot snacks with a range of microwaveable snack meals, the food giant's first venture into this arena.

Big Eat, which will be launched next month, will come in five varieties including spicy chicken tortellini, tomato & roasted vegetable penne, creamy cheese pasta, chunky vegetable & tomato hotpot and chicken & vegetable curry.

Rsp for a 350g pot is £1.39.

The newcomer has been designed to appeal to teenagers and their mothers and is being positioned as a 'real food, real fast' option, aimed at giving teens a hearty, wholesome snack. It contains no artificial preservatives or flavours.

After a few tough years, the instant pot snacks category has bounced back, rising 4.2% to £88m [IRI 52 w/e to 24 February, 2007). The market was worth £105m two years ago, but sales were lost because of a lack of trust in the products available, partly due to the 2005 Sudan 1 scandal, but also because products were perceived as unhealthy, said Heinz senior brand manager Matt Walker.

"On top of Big Eat's health benefits, the Heinz name will also help reassure mothers who may have concerns about the nutritional content of the snacks they buy," said Walker, who predicted the range would generate sales of £5m in its first year - the equivalent of an 8% value share.

Big Eat has up to half the salt content and twice the helping of healthy fibre compared with reconstituted dried noodle meals, according to Heinz. The launch will be supported by a £2m marketing push, including TV, press, outdoor activity and sampling.

"Big Eat is a good alternative to a very basic Pot Noodle-dominated market," said Shaun Quinton, MBL trading manager. "The range represents a much better quick meal for people on the go."

Rival Princes launched a similar range six months ago called Quick Eat Pots, but, said Quinton "these didn't work particularly well, probably due to the expensive £1.99 price. Big Eat is a much better value proposition."

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