Three new stir-fries have been developed with Tesco suppliers Geest and Simply Fresh Foods and will hit the shelves next week with a fourth to follow soon after. Healthy Living's sweet & sour chicken, spicy Thai noodles, plum & hoisin stir-fry and chicken chow mein all offer consumers a healthy, ready-prepared solution in a single pack. All the products have extremely short preparation times but still give shoppers an opportunity to do a little cooking themselves.
An important feature of the range is its step format, which improves on Tesco's existing range. "The stir fries with chicken are cooked in four steps and those without are in three steps," explained buyer Sarah Hames. Clear instructions are given on the top of the single tray packs which are sub-divided inside so that ingredients can be added separately for each step in the cooking process. "We found that the problem with all the ingredients in a single tray is that when they are all added to the wok at the same time, thinly sliced vegetables tended to overcook whereas the water chestnuts, for example would be underdone," said Hames. "That is why we have separated the ingredients in the trays and introduced the step format."
Tesco also felt that the vegetables in its stir-fries were too thinly shredded and has introduced a chunkier cut to its re-launched range. "Now we have a better product once it is cooked for consumers," said Hames.
Another key development for the store is that it is offering pre-cooked meat within the produce aisles. "There is a general awareness among our customers that they need to eat healthily and our Healthy Eating brand has been growing year on year," said Hames. But the brand has been difficult to introduce to produce as calorie counts need to be lower than on standard lines. "The Healthy Living stir-fries are a good opportunity and the char-grilled chicken in the packs is already cooked and in a separate sachet, as are the sauces and noodles."
Hames believes that this re-launch will bring new consumers into produce aisles. "We are making produce more appealing to those customers who would normally buy some chicken and then a ready-made sauce from the ambient section," she said. "We are encouraging them to eat a lot more vegetables than they would do otherwise."
And as well as its Healthy Living range, the store is also revamping its standard stir fries to include them its step format. There are eight products in the range across two different packs sizes in two-step and three-step formats to provide a vegetarian meal for one or two or, if meat is added, to feed a larger household.
The new packs feature a range of produce including capsicum, carrots, mushrooms, baby sweetcorn, beansprouts, bamboo shoots, spring greens, onions and pak choi and are offered in five different assortments: Chinese, Thai, mixed pepper, mushroom and baby vegetables and pak choi.
"People want to be healthier and we are making it easier for them," said Hames.
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