Heading the line-up of newcomers in the Knorr range launching next month will be Vie, an ambient soup in a box, and Chinatown, a series of Chinese-inspired cooking sauces. Vie will come in six flavours ­ Tomato & Basil, Carrot & Coriander, Red Pepper & Tomato, Country Vegetable, Smooth Autumn Vegetable,and Smooth Leek & Potato. The 500g packs will retail at 89p. Chinatown, meanwhile, will also be a six-strong range with 525g glass jars of Sweet & Sour, Sweet & Sour Extra Pineapple, Sweet Chilli & Lime and Hoi Sin & Plum, and 515g jars of Szechuan and Black Bean & Pepper. All will have rsps of £1.55. One of the more dramatic revelations from Unilever Bestfoods regarding its plans for Knorr is the "migration" of some of its best known brands to the Knorr stable. Sauces under the Chicken Tonight, Sizzle and Stir, and Stir It Up banners will all get Knorr branding, as will Colman's Simply Sausages sauces and liquid stock brand Touch of Taste. Under the changeover, Sizzle and Stir will get eight new varieties, including Chilli Con Carne Medium and Hot, Black Bean & Green Pepper, Sweet & Sour, Fruity Sweet & Sour, Five Spice Sweet & Sour, Rogan Josh and Tikka Korai. Weights are either 455g or 460g and all will retail at the current price of £1.89 for Sizzle & Stir. One multiple buyer told The Grocer: "It will be interesting to see how Unilever fares by putting what are already big brands under the Knorr label. It is a bold move, although they are wise not to drop household names like Chicken Tonight from the packaging. "I am most impressed by Vie which I understand has already been successful in France. It will be interesting to see if British consumers will want to buy an ambient soup in this packaging format. Rightly or wrongly there is a love affair with the can in this country if people are not buying a fresh product. The challenge will be to overcome that trend." {{COVER FEATURE }}

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