leon crop

Spicy and Herbed will roll into Sainsbury’s on 29 October (both rsp: £1.80/240g)

Healthy fast food chain Leon is expanding its grocery offering with a duo of microwaveable rice and grain pouches, inspired by its rice boxes.

Two variants – Spicy and Herbed (both rsp: £1.80/240g) – will roll into Sainsbury’s on 29 October, on an introductory promotion of £1.50 per pouch.

Spicy contains a blend of wholegrain basmati with red quinoa, adzuki beans and chipotle chilli.

Herbed, meanwhile, has a mixture of wholegrain basmati, long-grain rice with mixed vegetables, roasted garlic and lemon.

They contain no artificial ingredients, are high in fibre, and are microwaveable in two minutes.

“Fibre-full wholegrain rice and grains have been at the heart of the Leon restaurant menu since 2004, in our year-round bestselling rice boxes,” said Leon grocery MD Ashley Davis.

“This launch into microwaveable rice takes a signature Leon dish and flavours and makes them even more accessible,” Davis added.

Another of Leon’s restaurant menu items Leon’s – GFC (gluten-free chicken) Nuggets – launched into Ocado last month, in a frozen format (rsp: £4/300g).

This latest launch into microwaveable rice comes as category leader Tilda is making concerted efforts to expand its portfolio. Over recent weeks, it has unveiled a quartet of vegetable side dishes and a duo of rice pudding SKUs for kids.