Greencore is pushing health concerns to one side to focus on indulgence, with its first branded range of frozen puddings.
Pudz, which is positioned solidly at the premium end of the puddings market, comprises eight recipes - four cold and four hot.
It was launched exclusively in Tesco this month, but is being rolled out to Asda, Somerfield, The Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Sainsbury's.
The company is known for its own label expertise, including manufacturing hot sponges and traditional desserts for most of the major multiples. It also produces the WeightWatchers chilled range.
However, its previous foray into the branded frozen arena included an ill-fated ready meals venture in 1998, with a brand fronted by TV chef Gary Rhodes.
A company spokesman blamed the brand's demise on lack of support and difficulty in getting the range merchandised together.
Ruth Stead, marketing manager, said the key to the success of Pudz would be the support the company was putting behind the new range. It is spending a total of £500,000 - which Stead claimed was more than last year's spend for the entire frozen and chilled dessert market - on a three-month consumer press and retailer magazine advertising campaign, which will kick off in September, as well as in-store activity.
The range, which comes in funky cube-shaped packaging, complete with vivid on-pack photography, is a mixture of traditional sponge offerings and lighter lines. The hot-serve lines - sticky toffee, bread and butter and chocolate puddings, and syrup sponge and custard - all cook in minutes in the microwave, while the cold-serve collection - summer pudding, raspberry pannacotta and lemon and chocolate cheesecakes - take about an hour to thaw. Rsp is £1.49.
Some options are packaged so that the base and sauce are separate - in order to add consumer interaction, according to Stead: "Consumers like to feel that they've done something to produce the results."
Stead said the range was unashamedly indulgent. "About 90% of what we do is heavily biased towards healthier products, but sometimes consumers want a treat," she added.
Pudz, which is positioned solidly at the premium end of the puddings market, comprises eight recipes - four cold and four hot.
It was launched exclusively in Tesco this month, but is being rolled out to Asda, Somerfield, The Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Sainsbury's.
The company is known for its own label expertise, including manufacturing hot sponges and traditional desserts for most of the major multiples. It also produces the WeightWatchers chilled range.
However, its previous foray into the branded frozen arena included an ill-fated ready meals venture in 1998, with a brand fronted by TV chef Gary Rhodes.
A company spokesman blamed the brand's demise on lack of support and difficulty in getting the range merchandised together.
Ruth Stead, marketing manager, said the key to the success of Pudz would be the support the company was putting behind the new range. It is spending a total of £500,000 - which Stead claimed was more than last year's spend for the entire frozen and chilled dessert market - on a three-month consumer press and retailer magazine advertising campaign, which will kick off in September, as well as in-store activity.
The range, which comes in funky cube-shaped packaging, complete with vivid on-pack photography, is a mixture of traditional sponge offerings and lighter lines. The hot-serve lines - sticky toffee, bread and butter and chocolate puddings, and syrup sponge and custard - all cook in minutes in the microwave, while the cold-serve collection - summer pudding, raspberry pannacotta and lemon and chocolate cheesecakes - take about an hour to thaw. Rsp is £1.49.
Some options are packaged so that the base and sauce are separate - in order to add consumer interaction, according to Stead: "Consumers like to feel that they've done something to produce the results."
Stead said the range was unashamedly indulgent. "About 90% of what we do is heavily biased towards healthier products, but sometimes consumers want a treat," she added.
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