Pukka, the nation’s favourite Hot Pie brand[1], is building its presence and bringing its category-leading pie expertise to the frozen fixture with a new range of four-pack puff pastry pies. The ‘Family Favourite’ range will enable retailers to shake-up their frozen pie offerings and drive sales among family shoppers with recipes that deliver on the great taste and quality missing from freezers.

Bringing taste, inspiration and excitement to the category, the oven baked range includes Beef & Vegetable and Chicken & Vegetable puff pastry pies. The Beef & Vegetable recipe features minced beef with diced carrot, swede and peas with a tasty, beef gravy. Up next, Chicken & Vegetable contains tender pieces of chicken, diced carrots, peas and onions in a chicken gravy. Both recipes are wrapped in a light puff pastry case and bake from frozen in just 35 minutes. The best-in-class pies[2] join Pukka’s existing frozen line-up including its microwaveable twin pack pies – available in All Steak, Cheese, Leek & Potato, Chicken & Bacon and a recently launched Vegan Minced Steak & Onion recipe.

The tasty range of puff pastry pies comes alongside a disruptive packaging makeover across Pukka’s entire frozen portfolio. Using clear quality food imagery to stand out and entice shoppers to frozen, the revamped look brings warmth, quality and innovation to the currently cold, functional frozen aisle.

“We’ve been bringing the people of Britain great-tasting and award-winning pies for nearly 60 years and our latest recipes are the next step in propelling frozen sales,” says Rachel Cranston, Head of Marketing and Innovation at Pukka. “And the category needs food which delivers full on flavour. Our research shows that over half of UK shoppers have negative perceptions of frozen food when it comes to taste and quality[3]. This needs to change.

“That’s why we’re on a mission to fulfil unmet needs.  By bringing our oven baked chicken and beef puff pastry pies to the frozen aisles, we’re raising the bar in the category when it comes to quality and flavour, with recipes that we know the whole family will love. In fact, our existing range of frozen pies already outperforms competitors on quality and taste, with over half of consumers saying they’d choose Pukka above other brands[4].

“But it’s not all about that distinctively Pukka taste. Convenience is also key and cooking from frozen in just 35 minutes means they’re the perfect dinner for family shoppers on the hunt for an easy ‘freezy’ fuss-free tea which can be enjoyed with veg with minimal effort.”

Pukka’s new frozen range comes hot on the heels of another successful year for The People’s Pie. After recently making a major move in the Savoury Pastry category with the launch of a range of Pukka Sausage Rolls, Slices and a Pasty, three of the recipes became top performers in the category after just two months[5]. On top of this, Pukka’s brand awareness shot up to the highest levels ever seen[6].

Cranston concludes: “This exciting new launch, supported by the brand’s continued strong performance, best-in-class innovation and heavyweight marketing investment, means now’s the time for retailers to stock the nation’s favourite pie in frozen.”

Pukka’s Family Favourites Puff Pastry four packs (RRP: £3.25, 362g per 4 pack) will roll out across multiple retail, convenience and wholesale starting with Beef & Vegetable into Tesco stores from 15^th March. Both recipes will be rolling into Iceland from 6^th April, closely followed by Morrisons from 20^th April. Packaging is fully-recyclable.

[1]  IRI 52 we 28.11.21

^[2] Vypr & Insites Consumer Research 2021

[3] Join the Dots Consumer Research, 2020

^[4] Vypr & Insites Consumer Research 2021

[5] IRI HandHeld data to 31/10/21 Value Sales Kantar Gains/Loss analysis 8wk pre vs post to 31/10/21

[6] Kantar Brand Impulse Tracking, Universe: Total Savoury Pastry