Unilever's Pot Noodle, one of the UK's top instant hot snack brands, has released a new variety, Flame Grilled Steak, in stores at Asda for this month before a wider roll-out to big supermarkets later this summer. The introduction is also intended to leverage the popularity of meat-flavoured snacks which will generate incremental sales for retailers.
Flame Grilled Steak has been gaining traction in adjacent snack categories, so it follows reasonable logic for Pot Noodle to add the new variation. Taste tests with consumers showed that 68% of respondents describe the flavor as "highly appealing", which suggests strong potential for market uptake.
This news comes at a good time, as Pot Noodle has recently performed very well; in Asda alone, more than one unit of Pot Noodle has been sold every second.
As per coherent market insights, the ready-to-eat food industry will expand at 7.7% CAGR over the forecast period of 2025-2032. The size of the current market is USD 185.78 Bn in 2025 and will become approximately USD 312.25 Bn in 2032. Market size is influenced by the increasing demand for convenience food worldwide.
The launch of this flavor comes on the back of last year's successful Chicken Fajita launch, which sold 1.78 million units, further cementing Pot Noodle's credentials for leading flavor innovation. The brand is now bought by over 8 million UK households.
Asda has been recognized as a major partner in this launch, supported by point-of-sale initiatives to boost shopper interaction and category performance.
Georgina Bradford, Unilever's Foods UK & Ireland general manager, spoke of the overlap between Pot Noodle and Asda's shopper bases, indicating that the partnership will enhance the effect of the new brand.
She added: "Flame Grilled Steak has been a perennial most asked-for flavor from our consumers. The high overlap between our shopper bases puts us in a good position to drive sales within the growing snack pot format category."
With volume sales of Pot Noodle up 4.2% over the past year, the brand aims to leverage consumer preferences for bold flavors to enhance its market position. The introduction of this flavor is seen as a critical move to sustain growth and capitalize on consumer trends favoring convenience and taste in snacking.
Source:
Ecommerce PLatform: FOODBEV MEDIA Ltd.
Company: Pot Noodle