Sausage brand Richmond is taking its first steps into the frozen ready meal category with two new family-friendly dishes: a sausage & tomato pasta dish and a sausage casserole.
Launching into Iceland later this month (rsp: £4/1.4kg), Richmond said the NPD served four people and would allow the brand to cater to more family mealtimes. The products will also roll out across the wider grocery channel over the coming months, while single-serve formats are planned for 2021.
With sausages a dinnertime staple – equating to 1.2 billion sausage occasions per year [Kantar w/e 17 May] – the Kerry Foods brand had already seen “huge success” in the frozen category, it claimed.
Frozen food sales remain high as freezer filling trend sticks
Sales of its frozen pork, chicken and meat-free sausage lineup stood at £23m this year [IRI 52 w/e 12 June] representing a 17.8% share of the category.
Richmond said the ready meals would also capitalise on a surge in interest in the frozen category, in addition to changing consumer habits during the pandemic, with 103 million more at-home evening meal occasions per week, up 23% on last year [Kantar state of the nation report, 2020].
“Over the past year, we’ve worked hard on innovating our offering to ensure we can cater to a whole variety of mealtime occasions,” said Kerry Foods category and marketing director Victoria Southern.
“We know the frozen category is booming and as consumers’ lives get busier, convenience has become key. Because of this, we’re confident our new range will be a hit.”
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