Northern Foods is transferring its expertise in frozen pizza to the chiller with the launch of a premium range under the Goodfella's brand. Goodfella's Signatore, the brand's first foray into the chilled cabinet, will fill "a gap in the market for new, fresh and exciting flavour combinations", said the company. Senior brand manager David Wilson said the move was a natural extension for Goodfella's and predicted sales of £20m in the product's first three years. "Moving into chilled pizzas allows us to experiment with pizza ingredients and sauces that we are unable to use in frozen," he said. "The range combines exciting flavour combinations to challenge the norm and excite consumers." The product, which is set to hit shelves next month, will be available in seven fusion-inspired recipes, each matched with a signature sauce developed with the help of award-winning Irish chef Carmel Somers. Variants include marinated lemon & herb chicken with courgettes & yellow peppers; cured prosciutto with rocket & crème fraîche; and Mediterranean-style vegetables with cream cheese & spicy zhug dressing - all priced between £3.49 and £3.79. The Goodfella's brand has achieved sales of more than £100m for the first time and is currently worth £104.3m [Nielsen MAT to May, 2007]. It has a 31% value share of the £328m UK frozen pizza market. "We will use the launch of Signatore to help Goodfella's become the number-one supermarket pizza brand in the UK and Ireland - not just frozen - by 2010," said Wilson. The launch will benefit from a £3m marketing push, which will include tailored retailer activity throughout the year. TV advertising has also been scheduled for the beginning of 2008.

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