Iceland Foods has relaunched its fresh produce lines as part of a major overhaul aimed at improving its customer offer and quality perception in the category, The Grocer can reveal.
The supermarket has partnered with Irish fruit and veg supplier Keelings to launch a new exclusive brand under the label ‘Keelings, Love to Grow’. This month it began rolling the new lines into Iceland stores and online, in place of many of Iceland’s own-label equivalents.
The initial launch appears to consist of more than 60 fruit and vegetable products including whole lettuces, salad tomatoes, avocados, and cucumber. It also includes prepared lines such as mashed potato, shredded kale, and vegetable medleys.
Berry varieties, melons, easy peelers and grapes are among the fruit products on offer, with Iceland promising on its website that “more lines” would be coming “soon”. The products are included in Iceland’s three for £5 mix and match multibuy deal, launched in response to the cost of living crisis.
The overhaul follows what was the supermarket’s biggest single launch of new frozen products announced in August, as part of wider efforts to broaden its customer offering and widen its market share being led by group buying director Andrew Staniland.
The supermarket has also been heavily investing in innovation, including through exclusive partnerships with brands like Blue Dragon, MyProtein and TGI Fridays, as a way of helping to attract more customers who are switching down from restaurants to dining in during the cost of living crisis.
The Grocer understands that Iceland sees the overhaul of its fresh lines as an opportunity to improve its quality perception in the category. It’s understood further categories are also under review.
Keelings also supplies berries, melons, pineapples, apples and pears to Tesco stores in Ireland, and has previously supplied several berry lines for M&S stores in the country.
The partnership with Iceland is the grower’s “biggest fresh branded range” according to a statement on the Iceland website.
The Grocer has approached Keelings and Iceland for comment.
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