Birds Eye is relaunching its frozen fish finger products line in the United Kingdom, following extensive consumer testing that showed a clear preference for crunchier breadcrumb coating enveloping its flaky 100% white fish fillets. Rolling out across the brand’s Breaded Omega 3 Alaska Pollock, Cod and Haddock ranges, the new recipe comes with a bold new pack design created to stand out and capture attention in the freezer aisles of supermarkets and grocery stores.
With Nielsen data for the 52-week period ending January 26 of this year showing market leader Birds Eye holding a 57.5% share of the £192.3 million UK fish finger category, the recipe and pack design upgrade aims to bring even more shoppers into a category already popular among consumers. In supporting the product release a multi‐million pound sterling marketing campaign is being initiated across TV, out-of-home, in-store and social media platforms to promote the taste, versatility and quality that have made Birds Eye Fish Fingers a household staple for over 70 years.
At the heart of the upgrade are the simple ingredients used to make the product, starting with frozen fish fillet blocks which are cut into fish finger rectangles. Each piece is then dipped in a flour-based batter before being coated in Birds Eye’s unique baked breadcrumbs. The fingers are flash-fried to set the coating and then frozen immediately to lock in quality. This is a process similar to how they might be made at home, just at larger scale.
“Birds Eye Fish Fingers have been part of British family life for generations because they consistently deliver on taste, quality, and convenience,” said Claire Sutton, marketing director. “This recipe refresh takes everything people love about our fish fingers and makes them even better. We’ve focused on creating the ultimate crunch while keeping the same succulent fish inside, giving shoppers the best fish finger experience possible.”
The new recipe in updated packaging hit shelves at Morrison’s on March 3 and will be available at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and Asda stores starting March 9. Distribution is in 10-packs for Omega 3 Alaska Pollock Fish Fingers offered at a suggested price of £3.00. The Cod and Haddock products come in 8-packs going for £4.25.
