Mexican food specialist Discovery Foods is taking on rival Old El Paso with a brand relaunch that includes new packaging, NPD and a £2.3m marketing spend.
Packaging across its entire portfolio will switch from a beige-based livery to a uniform red to give the range a more distinctive and consistent appearance.
Discovery's Swedish parent company, Santa Maria, said it also wanted the British range to have the same packaging design the brand has across Europe, where it claims to be the market leader.
In the UK, Discovery has a 22% share of the Mexican food market compared with Old El Paso's 55% [TNS]. Serving suggestions, diagrams and on-pack imagery of filled fajitas have been added to packs to challenge the perception that Mexican food is difficult to prepare.
New squeezy bottles of guacamole, soured cream (rsp: both £1.89), salsa and the more child-friendly smooth salsa (rsp: £1.79), which is free of jalapeno pepper, will roll out next week to sit alongside the existing glass jars. Meanwhile, new Fajita Seasoning Pastes (rsp: £1.09) will be introduced as an alternative to the brand's dry seasoning to make it easier for children to prepare fajitas.
"Research suggested Mexican was perceived as an unfamiliar, complicated category compared with Indian and Chinese, so we have made our range more accessible," said MD Andy Peck. "Whereas Old El Paso has anglicised its flavours, we are keeping authentic."
A £2.3m push will kick off on 1 August with a 16-week TV campaign, national roadshow and PoS.
Packaging across its entire portfolio will switch from a beige-based livery to a uniform red to give the range a more distinctive and consistent appearance.
Discovery's Swedish parent company, Santa Maria, said it also wanted the British range to have the same packaging design the brand has across Europe, where it claims to be the market leader.
In the UK, Discovery has a 22% share of the Mexican food market compared with Old El Paso's 55% [TNS]. Serving suggestions, diagrams and on-pack imagery of filled fajitas have been added to packs to challenge the perception that Mexican food is difficult to prepare.
New squeezy bottles of guacamole, soured cream (rsp: both £1.89), salsa and the more child-friendly smooth salsa (rsp: £1.79), which is free of jalapeno pepper, will roll out next week to sit alongside the existing glass jars. Meanwhile, new Fajita Seasoning Pastes (rsp: £1.09) will be introduced as an alternative to the brand's dry seasoning to make it easier for children to prepare fajitas.
"Research suggested Mexican was perceived as an unfamiliar, complicated category compared with Indian and Chinese, so we have made our range more accessible," said MD Andy Peck. "Whereas Old El Paso has anglicised its flavours, we are keeping authentic."
A £2.3m push will kick off on 1 August with a 16-week TV campaign, national roadshow and PoS.
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