It has succeeded where 90% of products fail.

The Soup in a Bun line that won the Breaking into Tesco TV series has passed its trial period with flying colours and is now being rolled out.

The product - a bun that is heated up, scooped out and filled with soup - launched into 155 Tesco stores eight weeks ago.

Thanks to the publicity from the TV programme, where it took top honours during consumer tests and from Tesco's product development team, tens of thousands have now been sold and it is being rolled out to a further 100 stores.

"Sales are on track and thankfully we're now through the six-week trial so more stores are taking it," said Nick Smallwood, the man behind Soup in a Bun.

However, while many consumers had contacted him to praise the product, others have said they struggled to find it as the packaging was different to the winning product unveiled on the show.

"People have been a bit baffled by the packaging.

"A lot was made of the need to have a biodegradable box during the programme, so that's what we came up with. But now it's a plastic bag inside another bag, which I can only assume was a cheaper option."

Smallwood predicted that sales would tail off in the next few months as the soup category traditionally dips in summer, but he expected a renewed pick-up in autumn.

He added that he planned to speak to other supermarkets regarding developing variations on the concept, which is manufactured for Tesco by Bakkavor. These could include new flavours or alternative fillings, such as curry or chilli.

Only the winning product is exclusive to Tesco, which keeps the intellectual property for as long as the product is stocked.

"I've been in touch with Tesco about coming up with more products and recipes, but I think they're more interested in people with companies behind them to manufacture themselves," Smallwood said.

He added that he hoped Tesco would start listing the dish in its Express stores as the concept lent itself better to convenience.

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