Exclusive Karen Dempsey Heinz is stretching its reach into canned tomatoes with the launch of a new range due to hit shelves in October. As well as peeled plum (rsp 37p for a single, £1.39 for a four pack) and chopped tomatoes (rsp 39p single, £1.49 for four), it is bringing out a tube of tomato purée (rsp 49p) and a passata in TetraPak packaging (rsp 59p for 500ml). Heinz is investing £250,000 in promoting the range and believes it can add value to what is essentially a commodity market dominated by own label. But it will also take on head to head established canned tomato brands such as Napolina. A Heinz spokesman said: "We've got a good strong range and trusted name that consumers will buy into quickly. The strength of the Heinz brand will add the value that the market is crying out for. "We're taking a category view and retailers recognise that if any growth is going to come from that category then it needs someone like Heinz to do it." Heinz will work with Italian company La Doria and draw on the latter's expertise in own label to produce the range. On the one hand, this move is an obvious one as Heinz is already an abundant user of tomatoes to make ketchup. But it is debatable how much value can be added to a commodity market. The total canned tomato market (including other tomato products such as passata) is worth £69.2m [Taylor Nelson Sofres]. Heinz estimates it can add between £5m and £6m to that. {{P&P }}

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