The £99m canned pasta market has suffered from an unhealthy image of late, forcing major manufacturers to introduce healthier recipes - particularly for character-endorsed products targeting children.

Low-fat, low-salt, multigrain and, most recently, Omega-3 pastas rolled out by Heinz have, arguably, saved the struggling sector, which fell 1.7% in value in the latest year to £99m.

Character licensing is a huge part of the overall canned pasta market - it accounts for between 45% and 55%. Premier Foods' Crosse & Blackwell canned pasta range is heavily character-endorsed - with major licences including Bob the Builder, Scooby-Doo and Noddy - to the extent that the brand has built up a 44% market share of the £11m character pasta market.

However, major licences are no longer a guarantee for success. Two years ago Heinz cut its lines from 12 to six, admitting that too many licences were actually taking value out of the category. Since then two new character licences have appeared: Dora the Explorer and Disney Princess.

Heinz has also relaunched Alphabetti spaghetti and added Numberetti spaghetti to its range in July.

Heinz senior brand manager Nathan Ansell says: "Character-licensing is very important in pasta but there has been a lot of clutter in the past and we wanted to clean it up.

"It is better to have fewer, bigger licences. Our core licences now are Winnie the Pooh, Thomas the Tank Engine, Disney Princess and the Tweenies, but we will continue to launch new ones that have enduring popularity."

Heinz has clearly tightened its focus over the past 12 months with health, nutrition and practicality at the core of its strategy, culminating in the roll-out

of Omega-3 throughout its pasta range this month.

"This is a big deal for us," says Ansell. "It's the biggest change we've made to our ranges in eight years. The entire range is being redesigned with front-of-pack nutritional information flagging up low sugar, low fat and new vitamins. The rollout will be complete by the end of the year and marketing activity will begin next month."

Ansell promises that there is a lot more to come from the company, with increased nutritional benefits and products targeting seven, eight and nine-year-olds. This may also include HP launches following Heinz's acquisition of HP Foods from Danone earlier this year.

Ansell adds: "Heinz is committed to growing the entire canned pasta category and our strategy is working.

"Within the market itself our share was up from 69% to 71.3% last year, whereas the overall market was

down slightly."n