EASY DOES IT

New pastas, pies and plant-based meals arrive in store.

With more Kiwis enjoying the simple luxuries of cooking and eating at home, we’re seeing new trends emerge in both the convenience and heat and eat categories, says Tim Campbell, Category Manager at Foodstuffs South Island.

There is significant growth in product solutions that are designed to speed up the process of cooking from scratch and taking the hassle out of meal prep.

Campbell comments: “This category is seeing significant growth in both meat and plant-based products, with more meat and dairy alternatives becoming popular with customers. The recent launch of the Plantly and Abundance meal ranges are just some of the many new products customers are switching to, as more Kiwis move to a more flexitarian or plant-based lifestyle.

“We’re also seeing growth in the pie category with suppliers innovating through the use of gourmet products such as Angus Beef and gourmet cheese. As an easy on-the-go meal solution, plant-based pies are also becoming popular with our flexitarian customers. New products in this space include the Bakers Son’s range of vegan pies and the Irvine’s Beast range, which include new flavours such as Cheeseburger and Chicken and Hemp.”

The FMCG Business team found some new and exciting convenience meals, from delicious fresh pastas and pasta sauces to plant-based dinners and vegan pies.

New look for fresh pasta & sauce -Delmaine makes huge investment

Delmaine’s passion for great tasting fresh pasta and pasta sauces is being reinvigorated with capital investments of nearly $2 million in 2021. Capacity at the Manukau-based manufacturing plant will double with the installation of new quality Italian pasta machinery. Included in this investment are new dies for pasta and distinctive new pottles for sauces.

The pack design for both ranges has also been reset with a photographic approach focussing on the quality, great tasting ingredients. The Delmaine logo device and green and gold colours have been maintained as these core Delmaine brand assets are what shoppers look for on shelf. The new pasta packs are now also fully recyclable.

Delmaine’s co-owner and Managing Director, Rick Carlyon explains: “Not only has the focus been on packaging, but a lot of work has been done on flavours too, with every product being reformulated to improve taste and texture. Free range egg has been introduced across all our pasta ranges.”

The Delmaine everyday range will now include new larger sized pastas with Tortelloni and Ravioloni shapes joining the range. This range features two completely new flavours; Roasted Pumpkin, Kumara & Sage Tortelloni (which uses batch roasted pumpkin & kumara locally grown in Northland) and Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Tortelloni (a blend of tasty Italian tomatoes, basil & local Mozzarella cheese).

The pasta sauce range will include two new and unique tomato-based sauces; Puttanesca combines tasty Italian tomatoes with chopped Kalamata olives and capers, whilst Porchetta combines a tasty Italian based tomato sauce with seared free farmed pork mince.

Carlyon says: “We will also be featuring two new products in our Premium Ravioli range with Free Range Chicken & Smoked Paprika and Free Farmed Pork & Fennel joining the range.

“The relaunch will be supported by Delmaine’s biggest communications campaign, with over $150k spent in the first six months.

Carlyon adds: “Delmaine has always been proud to bring great tasting Mediterranean-inspired food to New Zealand consumers, and fresh pasta and pasta sauces have always been a core category for us. We are proud to manufacture locally and distribute throughout New Zealand fresh all the way. We are committed to driving growth into this category and look forward to working with our retail partners to make this happen.”

To find out more about Delmaine’s fresh Pasta and Pasta Sauces, contact Delmaine’s Customer Services team on 0800 335 624.

Delicious vegan and family-size pies roll out

The Baker’s Son and Dad’s Pies are a proud Familyowned business based just north of Auckland. Their delicious pies are available from all good supermarkets up and down New Zealand.

The Baker’s Son range is now launching Vegan Buttery Chick’n 200g as well as a new 750gm family pie range for the chiller (Vegan Mince & Cheddar, Angus Mince & Cheese and Angus Steak & Cheese). National Sales Manager Grant Nixon explains:

“The vegan pie has been very well received. It is currently our top selling pie in the range, and is Core ranged in both Foodstuffs North and South Island and Countdown.

“We are seeing a trend towards more vegan options and the purchasers are not always vegans, but also consumers that are wanting a meat-free option.

“The new family pies are the same great recipes just made into a more convenient 750gm size and at a price point that makes them more affordable to families.”

For orders please email info@thebakersson.co.nz .

New plant-based meals at Countdown Steve Mills, General Manager Merchandise and Replenishment told FMCG Business: “Over the last couple of years we’ve seen more and more Kiwis look to eat plant-based foods and to help make it even easier for our customers, we’ve developed a new range of own brand plant-based products called Plantitude. “There are six delicious ready-to-eat plant-based meals that are dairy free, vegan, gluten free and free of artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

“Packed full of yumminess, there is Satay Tofu, Pad Thai Tofu, Massaman Tofu, Blackbean Tofu, Tex Mex Jackfruit and Green Curry Jackfruit in the range. There are also delicious plant-based chocolate brownies and cake options in the bakery section; with the dairy swapped out for coconut cream,” explains Mills.

FMCG Business produces a monthly snapshot of category news and highlights, based on information from participating clients and Nielsen data available at time of print. To showcase your products in upcoming category reports, please contact trubanowski@intermedianz.co.nz.