Woolworths has finally launched a new frozen meals range brand called "Delicious Nutritious."
Australian Food News informed that Celebrity Personal Trainer Michelle Bridges designed and co-promoted the rhyming range. The campaign aims to let shoppers know of the range as health conscious frozen meal options.
The retail company said it decided to create the range with Michelle Bridges after it found out that 90 percent of Australians feel they do now eat enough vegetables. Hence, each meal has less than 450 calories. It has serves of vegetables and rates at a four star rating as part of the Federal Government's Health Star front-of-pack rating system for promoting healthier food.
Options within Woolworths' "Delicious Nutritious" range include Spicy Chimichurri Beef & Vegetables, Salmon Fish Cakes, Moroccan Style Chickpea Tagine, Mild Massaman Beef, Italian Style Chicken, Chicken Pesto Pasta Beef & Tomato Casserole and Asian Style Chicken. The recommended retail price for each of these meals at the time of launching is AUD$7.99.
In terms of competition, Woolworth's "Delicious Nutritious" range has a long way to go with Lean Cuisine which currently have the largest brand volume in the health-related frozen meals sold in Australian supermarkets with 47.9 percent share per Nielsen Figures listed in Retail World's December 2014 Annual Report. Weight Watchers then followed in the second spot with 30.1 percent, McCain had 19 percent, while other brands make up the remaining 3 percent of the market
Meanwhile, Food World News previously reported that Woolworths market capitalization is down around a third since mid-2014. John Rice, Professor of Management, University of England and Nigel Martin, Lecturer, College of Business and Economics, Australian National University, said via The Conversation that the store has done harm to its fundamental business of groceries.
"Whenever consumers choose the low cost goods within Woolworths, it is at the expense of the higher margin goods they also have for sale. This is evidenced by the steep decline in margins reported today - with sales in slight decline (2.5%) and projected earnings in free fall (28 to 35%)," John revealed in the report. "Woolworths is learning the hard way that while revenues are easy to lose, the same can't be said for the fixed costs involved in running a national retailer."
