BIRDS EYE LAUNCHES BREAKTHROUGH COATED FISH NPD TO BUILD ON SUCCESS OF INSPIRATIONS PLATFORM

– Top food brand introduces exciting, new coated and recipe fish products, expanding the current offering of award-winning Inspirations range –

In response to Inspirations – the premium range of evening meals from Birds Eye – being named the best-selling FMCG product launch of 2014 by global consumer and retail insight leader, Kantar Worldpanel, the leading food brand is now expanding the Inspirations platform further with the introduction of a new Breaded Fish Fillets range and a new Bake Perfect Fish variant.

The Breaded Fish Fillets range is packed full of exciting texture combinations, and features two truly delicious variants, created from a mixture of premium, contemporary flavour pairings:

• Crunchy Tortilla, Chilli and Lime: for a Mexican inspired flavour experience, tasty fish fillets are coated with a delicious blend of crunchy tortilla, lime and chilli

• Sicilian Lemon and Pink Peppercorn: Blended lemon and pink peppercorns create a tasty crumb coasting, inspired by the cuisine of Sicily

The new range also spearheads another category breakthrough, due to its innovative packaging. Featuring transparent packaging to really showcase the quality of the unique ingredients in the coating, the product’s packaging also allows for individual portionability, whilst the fish is covered by a film designed to lock in the fantastically tasty ingredients, providing a delicious taste experience for consumers.

Crafted to combine the finest and freshest ingredients with exciting flavour combinations, the Inspirations meal range was identified as the most successful new product range in 2014 from more than 3,000 new products, after enjoying sales last year of £31.3 million for innovation products alone.*

The Inspirations platform overall has a huge success and is on-track to deliver £50million RSV in 2015. Currently enjoyed by 5.7 million households***, the range of meals features several variants including Chicken Inspirations with an Irresistible Garlic & Herb sauce and Fish Chargrills with Sunblushed Tomato, Basil & Oregano. Providing busy consumers with superior evening meals, the range forms part of Birds Eye’s ‘Food of Life’ strategy to develop and introduce innovative foods that can be enjoyed every day by everyone.

Furthering Inspirations offering within the Recipe Fish sector too, a new variant joins the existing Bake Perfect Fish range, providing tasty, succulent cod fillets complemented with a delicious Lime, Chilli and Coriander sauce.

The Inspirations Breaded Fish Fillets will retail with an RSP of £3.99 and a promotional price of £2 at launch. Similarly, the new Bake Perfect Fish variant has an RSP of £3.99, and a promotional launch price of £3. The innovative addition of Breaded Fish Fillets will be supported by an investment of £1.5m, including TV spend with adverts featuring the new products live from 19th October for six weeks.

Birds Eye UK Marketing Director, Steve Chantry, comments:
“We’re overwhelmed by the success of the Inspirations range, and are still thrilled to have received the award for the most successful FMCG new product launch of 2014. We take absolute pride in leading the market when it comes to consumer insight and product innovation, so we’re excited to be meeting the demands of shoppers by expanding our premium Inspirations offering further.

“Created with the best possible ingredients and distinctive packaging, the Breaded Fish Fillets will revolutionise the Coated Fish market and provide delicious flavour combinations that can be ready with minimal fuss – perfect for busy, modern day consumers!”

With the Breaded Fish Fillets offering now available in Iceland, the range will soon launch in Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose from August, followed by Tesco and Asda from September. Bake Perfect Fish will launch in Morrisons and Sainsbury’s from August and Tesco and Asda from September.