“We said something cool was on its way…. and it’s arrived! … Say hello to our brilliant new frozen meals for toddlers and children,” proclaimed the announcement posted at the Annabel Karmel website on September 27.
Four new products have been unveiled for children aged one-year-old and above: Mummy’s Fish Pie; Tasty Beef Cottage Pie; Hidden Veggie Bolognese and Chicken; and Tomato & Mascarpone Pasta. Each weighs in at 200 grams and has a suggested retail price of £2.
Introduced initially at over 200 select Tesco stores in the United Kingdom, this marks the kiddie cuisine company’s first venture into supermarket frozen food aisles in Britain. However, it has been active in that department in Australia for a while now, having launched frozen dishes for babies and toddlers there in 2015.
Frozen Chosen for Good Reason
“We are always looking at ways to make life a little easier for busy families,” notes the website posting. “And with lots of us already relying on the freezer for speedy dinners, Annabel has combined her recipe expertise with the natural freezing process to create this quick and balanced range.”
Pointing out that frozen products have many advantages and benefits, the company’s marketing department revealed a number of interesting results from a survey it recently conducted. Among them:
- In blind tastings, 95% of mothers couldn’t tell the difference between Annabel Karmel frozen kids meals and its freshly prepared recipes. That’s due in part because the meals are benchmarked against Annabel’s original recipes, and no flavor compromises are made.
- 45% of parents said it’s a challenge to get their children packing in the 5-a-day vegetable pledge.
“It’s no mean feat, but our new frozen meals are a tasty way towards their veggie intake,” said a company spokesman. “Our recipes ensure the veggies are cooked just how kids like them.”
- 85% of parents indicated that clearly labeled nutritionals is most important for them in buying a meal for their child.
“We couldn’t agree more, so our frozen front of packs give you all the information you need…low in salt, free from artificial flavors or preservatives, one of their 5-a-day, nutritionist approved, British Beef, responsibly sourced fish,” said the spokesman.
- 92% of families already freeze food.
Evidence of people freezing their food for storage has been found as early as 1000 BC in China. “They managed without artificial preservatives, and so have we! All of our frozen kids meals are free from artificial additives or preservatives,” stated the spokesman.
- Frozen food can reduce household food waste by as much as 47%. UK households ditch around 7 million tons of food each year – and much of that is due to buying more than is needed or a lack of planning. “Having balanced options in the freezer for those busy days will keep little ones happy…and your wallets happy too,” said the spokesman.
About Annabel Karmel
With a career spanning 25 years, London-born mother of three Annabel Karmel ranks as the UK’s No. 1 children’s cookbook author and as a best-selling international writer with 41 volumes to her credit.
It all started with The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner in 1991 – a book that reportedly has become the second best-selling non-fiction hardback of all time. It was a legacy to her first child, Natasha, who sadly died of a viral infection when just three months old.
Feeling vulnerable when her son Nicholas came along, she wanted to feed him only the very best foods. But as he was a fussy eater, she had to roll up her sleeves and set to work on creating inventive combinations that Nicholas would enjoy. At the time, she never dreamed that these would culminate in a cookbook that would go on to sell over four million copies worldwide.
With the sole mission of raising the standards of children’s diets, Karmel is a regular media commentator on food-related issues, and she undertakes consultancy work for major nursery chains, leisure resorts, restaurants and hotels worldwide.
In 2006, Karmel received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition. She has since become recognized as one of the UK’s leading female entrepreneurs.
