David Beckham is back in the freezer aisle thanks to a new partnership deal with Young's, The Grocer can exclusively reveal.

Findus Group announced this week that its Young's business had teamed up with the Beckham-fronted GO3 brand to launch a healthy range of frozen fish products in time for June and the World Cup kick-off.

Natural fish oil supplement GO3 an alternative source of omega-3 is being introduced to five existing Young's products to boost their levels of naturally occurring omega-3.

The range will comprise Young's Fish Fingers, Flipper Dippers, Cod Cakes, Admiral's Pie and Mariner's Pie (rsp: from £1 to £1.99), which will line up alongside the existing variants.

The launch will be backed by a £1m-plus marketing campaign and the packaging will feature an image of Beckham.

Last year, GO3 suffered free-falling sales and supermarket delistings just a year after launch.

The partnership with GO3 was a "winning line-up", claimed Young's MD Mark Escolme, who said it was an example of Young's commitment to help families to eat the recommended two portions of healthy fish a week.

"By partnering Young's with GO3 and the ultimate role model in David Beckham we hope we will encourage UK consumers to take up a healthier lifestyle boosted by GO3 omega-3," he said. "The power of his brand is huge, and as we go into the World Cup we are confident the range will be a massive success."

He said he expected Beckham's appeal to entice more shoppers to the frozen fixture, which recorded value sales growth of just 1.6% to £5.1bn over the past year, on volumes down 0.7% [Kantar Worldpanel 52w/e 21 March 2010].

"We'll be rewarding our loyal consumers, encouraging existing frozen consumers to add to their repertoire as well as recruiting new consumers to the category. The new range is a winning addition for the freezer aisle for retailers," he said.

Beckham's presence would succeed in livening up the "bland" frozen category, agreed The Value Engineers director Alex Waters, although he questioned the superstar's food credentials. "People are now beginning to understand omega-3 is brain food but this is undermined by the link to Beckham, who is more about athletic prowess," he said. "He has huge pulling power, though, and is still a bankable endorsement for brands."

Findus Group said it would reveal more details about the Young's/GO3 tie-up, including marketing activity information, in the next few weeks.

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