Saucy Fish Co owner Seachill has secured a return for the brand to Tesco, with a first listing for its new frozen fish range in 481 Tesco stores across the UK.
A new and exclusive to Tesco frozen basa with Asian BBQ sauce line, along with the brand’s salmon with chilli, lime & ginger dressing, went on sale on 29 October (rsp: £4 each).
Tesco stores in Ireland will also stock the smoked salmon with chilli line, in addition to a smoked haddock with vintage cheddar & chive sauce SKU, and two fishcake varieties.
The supplier launched its new frozen range into Sainsbury’s in February, and said it had proved hugely successful. Some 77% of spend on the brand had been incremental to Sainsbury’s frozen fish category as a whole, Seachill said, with the brand introducing younger, more affluent customers to frozen fish - something it intended to replicate in Tesco’s freezer aisle.
The Tesco listings will be supported by a multichannel marketing campaign including video, PR and social media from early November.
Tesco sold Saucy Fish’s chilled range between 2010 and 2015, when it was ditched by the retailer as part of its Project Reset range rationalisation, described at the time as a “conscious uncoupling”.
However, Tesco subsequently entered a long-term partnership with Seachill in 2016 to supply a variety of own-label fish, and was credited by industry insiders as a key player in the recent acquisition of Seachill by Hilton Food Group, which is also a long-term supply partner of the supermarket giant.
The deal to buy Seachill from parent Icelandic Group is due to be completed within the next 10 days.
“A new listing in Tesco is big news for The Saucy Fish Co,” said the brand’s sales and marketing director Amanda Webb.
“We know from past experience that Tesco shoppers are extremely loyal to Saucy Fish so we expect our frozen range to perform well in the freezer aisle,” she added. “We are delighted to be back in Britain’s biggest supermarket and expect the new listings to have a really positive impact on our business and our mission to get more people eating more fish, more often.”
The brand would be “a welcome addition of fun and colour to our frozen fish offering” said Martyn Doble, selling manager for frozen meal centres at Tesco.
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