Asda’s partnership with Leiths School of Food and wine is already paying dividends, with sales of its Extra Special range soaring after the rebranded top-tier range hit shelves last month.

A spokeswoman for Asda said it had targeted a sales spike of 11% but sales had increased by more than 17% since it rolled out 64 reformulated ready meals in mid-September.

Some stores had seen a sales spike of more than 100%, although sales varied regionally, she added.

Lasagne had seen the biggest improvement in sales, followed by cottage pie. The “hero” products, which had seen the biggest increase in volume sales were creamy mash and Dauphinoise potato.

Last week, David Cheesewright, Walmart’s president & CEO for EMEA and Canada, told investors that Asda was generating “great growth from the partnership with Leiths, which is starting to see significant end roads to quality perceptions from our consumers”.

Asda brand director Hemant Patel told The Grocer: “Leiths has a shared passion with us for delicious food that is simple, generous, classic and accessible to all.”

The range delivered “fantastic taste at market-leading prices”, he said. “This range has been a huge hit and we are excited to launch the rest of our Christmas Extra Special Leiths range.”

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