Food manufacturing specialist Wrights Food Group has announced its widest range of year round products listed with Marks & Spencer.

Among the products now in the retailer’s freezer cabinets is a selection of year-round and seasonal dishes including a Three Cheese & Potato Pie alongside a new Christmas-only addition to the instore bakery, the Panettonut, a Panettone inspired doughnut.

Making its first winter line appearance and now included within the M&S premium “Collection” range is the slow cooked British Beef Bourguignon & Dauphinoise Pie which features slow cooked beef in a red wine & mushroom sauce encased in all butter puff pastry and topped with creamy, garlicky potatoes.

The range of year-round pies now listed with M&S includes the Ratatouille Galette and a frozen Chicken, Ham Hock and Leek Pie featuring British chicken, shredded ham hock and sliced leeks in a creamy white wine sauce in puff pastry, topped with breadcrumbs and herbs. While Christmas sees the introduction of the Layered Christmas Turkey Pie – tender turkey, layered with cranberry sauce, pork, leek and sage stuffing and a rich turkey gravy.

Pippa Masters, Buyer for Frozen Foods at M&S, said: “We’re delighted to continue our partnership with Wrights Food Group to bring customers an even bigger selection of high-quality, convenient comfort foods this winter. We’ve seen a growing demand for luxury dinner centrepieces that can be easily cooked from frozen as customers continue prioritise easy at-home entertaining, and these indulgent mains really do make it as easy as pie to host friends and family at short notice. From our showstopping Collection Beef Bourguignon & Dauphinoise Pie to our brilliant Ratatouille Tart and Layered Christmas Turkey Pie joining our Effortless Entertaining range, we’ve made sure that quality and flavour are at the forefront for these new additions.”

She added: “We’re continuing to expand our frozen ranges as part of our ongoing transformation of our freezer aisles, enabling us to offer customers an ever-growing selection of great-value dinner centrepieces, sides, desserts, ingredients and more.” 

Wrights Food Group is a third-generation family business started in the North West by husband and wife team Jack and Lizzie Wright in 1926. As part of the Compleat Food Group, the company operates with a team of 600 across three sites in Crewe, specialising in the manufacture and retail and foodservice distribution of confectionery, savoury bakery products and ready meals.

Commercial director Helen Bowyer said: “Every year we expand our lines into Marks & Spencer and are creating more and more specialist and indulgent items – particularly for the celebratory Christmas season.

“Hearty, home-style food is the very foundation of our creativity here at Wrights and we are delighted that our team’s own passion for innovating and creating exceptional food continues to be recognised and embraced by Marks & Spencer – a truly iconic, quality British food brand.”

Wrights Food Group’s £30million manufacturing facility in Crewe produces more than three million savoury products per week including gastro pub pies and ready meals for the retail and hospitality sector. Its vegan range includes a Vegan Peppered Steak Slice, a Vegan Steak Pie, Vegan Chicken and Mushroom Pie, a Vegan Pasty and a Vegan 6 inch Sausage Roll, complementing the brand’s existing vegan offering and wider savoury range.

The full range and descriptions of Wrights Food Group products into Marks & Spencer is:

• Frozen: Chicken, Ham Hock & Leek Pie – British chicken, shredded ham hock and sliced leeks in a creamy white wine sauce, in puff pastry and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and herbs (all year round)
• Frozen: Three Cheese & Potato Pie – Thinly sliced potatoes layered with mature cheddar, mozzarella & Regato sauce in puff pastry topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and herbs (all year round)
• Frozen: Layered Christmas Turkey Pie – Tender turkey, layered with cranberry sauce, pork, leek & sage stuffing & a rich turkey gravy (Christmas only)
• Frozen: British BeefBourguignon & Dauphinoise Pie – Slow cooked tender beef in a rich red wine & mushroom sauce encased in all butter puff pastry and topped with creamy, garlicky potatoes (Winter line and part of the ‘Collection’ range)
• In-store bakery: Pannettonut
• Ratatouille Galette (all butter, puff pastry open ‘pie’)