IRELAND – Kerry Foods-owned brand Richmond sausage brand has expanded its portfolio with the launch of Meat-Free Burgers to its range.

Richmond has already seen success in the meat-free category, with its Meat-Free Sausages equating to RSV of £7.9 million (US$10.03m), becoming the number one brand with the highest repeat rate in the meat-free fresh category.

With the launch of its Meat-Free Burgers, Richmond stated that it was helping retailers to tap into one of the fastest-growing segments; the Fresh Meat-Free Burger category is currently growing 116.8%.

“We’ve worked hard over the past year on innovating our product portfolio so it reflects what families really want at mealtimes and we’ve already had some really positive responses from consumers around extending our meat-free range,” Victoria Southern, Category & Marketing Director at Kerry Foods, said.

“Given the roaring success of our Meat-Free Sausages we’re really excited to be expanding our range even further to ensure we can cater to a whole variety of mealtime occasions and we’re confident our Meat-Free Burgers will be a hit,”

Victoria Southern – Category & Marketing Director, Kerry Foods

“Eighty-eight per cent of them agree this new product is suitable for both adults and children, as great tasting, fuss-free meals are key – especially when dealing with different dietary preferences.”

The new chilled Meat-Free Burgers will be launching in shops this month in a 170g pack (2 x 85g patties).

“Given the roaring success of our Meat-Free Sausages we’re really excited to be expanding our range even further to ensure we can cater to a whole variety of mealtime occasions and we’re confident our Meat-Free Burgers will be a hit with shoppers looking to moderate their meat intake and with those looking to try something new from the Richmond brand,” Victoria added.

This latest launch is said to mark a continued commitment from the brand to encouraging existing shoppers to try meat-free alternatives and allowing retailers to offer more choice to shoppers. It follows the brand’s entry into the meat alternatives aisle last year with the release of its Meat-Free Sausages.

This comes days after Richmond Sausages branched into the frozen ready meals sector with the launch of a new range.

Richmond-Sausage-and-Tomato-PastaAvailable in a 1.4kg format that serves four, the range initially includes two family mealtime favourites: Sausage & Tomato Pasta and Sausage Casserole.

The Richmond frozen ready meals will be launching into Iceland, followed by further roll-out across the grocery retail sector.

Richmond is already well established in the frozen category, with its pork, chicken and meat-free sausages all being available in a frozen format, equating to an RSV of over £23 million (US$29.21m) and a 17.8% share of the frozen sausage category.

The brand stated that the launch of frozen ready meals will allow it to expand its sausage offering and continue to tap into more family mealtime occasions.

The move comes amid changing consumer habits as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with 103m more at home evening meal occasions per week, up 23% compared to last year.

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