We were interested by the announcement that Iceland has launched new ranges of pub- and restaurant-style ready meals to bolster its takeaway offer. A 10-strong range called Tendercooked Meat will comprise sous vide dishes such as duck breast and lamb shank and will sell between £1.50 to £5. The sous vide technique is a popular option among restaurants and gastro pubs.
To us, this seems quite a way from the budget range of party food that Kerry Katona and others made famous as part of Iceland’s successful sponsorship of “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”. So can the upmarket range really be compatible with the Iceland brand.
Clearly, in these challenging financial times, consumers may try to save money in any way they can. But if this means a Waitrose shopper having a dalliance with Sainsbury’s or a Tesco’s shopper making the odd trip to Asda, is it likely that they can be converted to Iceland too.
Well, with a £7.5m advertising campaign starting soon in support of the range, Iceland clearly think so. They’re even offering shoppers the chance to win a prize with every purchase. Now, that’s not very Waitrose!
But don’t write it off yet. The move towards thrifty experimentation is one of the reasons behind the success of Morrisons. If Iceland can really attract shoppers from more premier retailers to their more upmarket products as well as convincing their traditional customer base that "sous vide" is really what they’ve been missing in their lives, then Iceland will not only reinforce its place as a touchstone brand it will also oversee one of those rare and potentially seismic brand shifts. Then again - and much more likely - it could just be a range of frozen pub grub!
