Birds Eye is expanding its Green Cuisine range in the United Kingdom with the introduction of Battered Fishless Fillets. The Feltham, England-based Nomad Foods brand already holds a 46% share in the fishless category – and with fish being the biggest frozen category in retail, having a 13.6% share in total frozen sales, there is a huge opportunity for the fishless category to also grow in popularity.
The emerging fishless sector rang up £2 million in total grocery sales during the 52-week period ending on April 23, 2022, according to Nielsen. Birds Eye Fishless Fingers are worth £630,000, and rank as the leading SKU in the fish substitute space.
Nomad Foods is looking to amplify the fishless segment within the meat-free category, building on the success of Fishless Fingers which helped Birds Eye Green Cuisine increase its household penetration from 9.1% of the population in 2021 to 9.8% of the population in 2022, according to Kantar statistics.
“Our Battered Fishless Fillets tap into the consumer demand for products that can help them reduce their meat intake while ensuring flavor, health and convenience remain. Following on from the success of fishless fingers, battered fishless fillets offer a range of nutritional benefits, such as being a source of omega 3 which plays an important part in maintaining heart health,” said Victoria Westwood, senior brand manager at Birds Eye Green Cuisine.
She added: “Fishless Fillets is coated in crispy batter to provide extra tastiness, seamlessly balancing health and taste for our consumers. The new launch will also help us on our mission to encourage meat-substitutes which are not only rich in flavor but also deliver on health.’’
Battered Fishless Fillets are available at Tesco stores now and will be rolled out to wider grocery in summer. The suggested retail price for a pack of two fillets is £3.
