Innocent is relaunching Veg Pots and has admitted the brand has not kept pace with the changing ready meals market.

Three recipes have been dropped from the line-up, while the others have been improved and new ones introduced. Rolling out next week, the new products retain the brand’s traditional pot packaging but will be getting new-look sleeves.

Veg Pots, launched in 2008, were a great concept, said Innocent general manager Paul Brown, but had needed updating. “We need to hold our hands up,” he told The Grocer this week. “We have not innovated at the speed we should have - ready meals need more churn than drinks.”

He added the ready meals market was more than 90% own label, and admitted Veg Pots had faced competition from retailer ranges. Sales of the brand are currently £14.3m but have fallen 15.6% year on year [IRI 52w/e 26 April 2014].

Innocent hopes to turn around the performance with new versions of its Caribbean jerk, Mexican chipotle chilli and Thai coconut curry, and new lines Indian madras, a British-inspired Pearl barley & veg, and an Indian lentil sambar.

The launch will be supported by a partnership with London’s Evening Standard as well as online activity. The range will retain the £3.79 rsp, and be supported by multibuys and “occasional” deeper discounts.

The relaunch follows a shake-up in January that saw Brown move from commercial director, and a clearer internal division made between the food and drink teams.

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