New improved meaty treat beats consumer perceptions

Kepak Convenience Foods is on a mission to improve product quality in its Rustlers range.

The company has eliminated hydrogenated fat from all its products and achieved significant reductions in the number of additives used in its ingredients. "Hydrogenated fat was in the bread to assist in the processing of the dough. Now, instead of using solid vegetable fat, our supplier uses a spray on vegetable oil," says marketing director John Armstrong

Although he admits that the 16-24 year old males who eat the product are not remotely health conscious and have an "anarchic approach to food", he explains that their mums are the ones doing the shopping.

"Because the number of young men living at home is growing - most 16-19 year olds and 60% of men aged 20-24 live at home - mum is a key buyer and plays the gatekeeper role."

The company has a "chunky budget" when it comes to attitudinal research and was pleased to find that the product delivered well against people's expectations. "People assume that all our products will be red under the Food Standards Agency's traffic light labelling scheme, but our flagship product - the quarter pounder is amber on fat and salt, green for sugar and red for salt," he says. "If you walk down the ready meals aisle you'll find a lot of products worse than that."

The company is still deciding whether to use traffic lights on packaging, or in its advertising campaign, which is aimed at mums.

Kepak is also working on a new product for women. "We're looking to bring something to the market in the next six to nine months aimed at 25-45 year old women," says Armstrong. "It'll be a microwaveable product because you need to be able to cook it in the same time as a TV advert during Coronation Street." He says that some of the new range will contain meat, whereas Rustlers will never go meat free as a vegetarian variant might take the edge off the brand.