Quorn is expanding its range of 'fish' lines in a bid to reel in "concerned" fish eaters as well as veggies.

Earlier this year, the meat-free brand launched two frozen fish-alternative products fish-less fingers and tuna style & sweetcorn crispbakes (both rsp: £2.29) and last month, it rolled out two chilled lines salmon style dill crispbakes and tuna style melts (rsp: £2.49).

The plan now was to launch a frozen ocean pie in September and a battered 'fish' fillet early next year, said brand owner Marlow Foods, which was sold to private equity firm Exponent by Premier Foods in January.

The activity would broaden the brand's appeal both with vegetarians and fish eaters concerned about sustainability and overfishing, said Quorn marketing director Chris Wragg. Marlow expected the range to generate £5m to £8m in sales over the next 18 months, he added.

"About half of vegetarians don't eat fish, which represents about one million consumers. Many are denied their favourite fish meals because alternative products don't exist," he said.

Quorn recently applied to register the trademarks 'Fish without the Fishin' and 'Fish without the Fishing' for potential use under the Quorn brand, ­although Wragg said the company has no immediate plans to use them.

"The application is so we have them in the locker should we wish to use them," he said.

The meat-free category has grown 5.2% to £199.4m over the past three months [SymphonyIRI 12w/e 14 May 2011] with Quorn up 7.3% to £116.7m.

Read more
Exponent plans big TV and NPD push for Quorn and Cauldron (14 March 2011)
Focus On Meat Free (29 January 2011)

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