Kerry Foods is taking its Pure brand into the booming gluten-free market with its first-ever range of ready meals.
The seven-strong chilled range, rolling into Morrisons this week, comprises four lunch options - Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto, Chicken & Prawn Paella, Spicy Singapore Chicken Noodles and Sweet Chilli Chicken Tom Yum Rice Noodles (rsp: £2.85/300g), alongside three dinners - Chicken Tikka with Jewelled Rice, Sicilian Chicken Pasta and Thai Green Chicken Curry (rsp £3.50/380g).
Each dish is made with ‘all-natural’ ingredients. Kerry Foods told The Grocer it had invested £1m in a segregated production area for the meals at its Burton-on-Trent site, with an additional £1m earmarked for marketing and a “modern new look” for the brand. Its range of spreads has been re-labelled as dairy and gluten-free for consistency.
Pure, which was founded more than 20 years ago and claims to be the pioneer in free-from spreads, said “now was the perfect time” to expand its offer.
The category was originally dominated by older consumers, but 25 to 34-year-old shoppers were now driving growth, said brand manager Alastair Gibbons. “The meals will appeal to that group because they offer quick, healthy and tasty meal solutions, and will fill a gap for quality offerings in the free-from aisle.”
Kerry Foods will be hoping the NPD helps reverse a 0.9% decline to £6.1m [Nielsen 52 w/e 10 October 2015], in a burgeoning free-from category, up 19.2% to £620m.
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