Ainsley Harriott Adds Cous Cous-Based Stuffings

Symington’s have designed packaging to be bright, modern and interesting to consumers with striking colours against a black background.

08/01/08 Building on the Ainsley Harriott brand’s lead in the cous cous sector manufacturer Symington’s is looking to repeat its success with a new concept in stuffings to revitalise consumers’ palates.

Using cous cous as a base Symington’s have developed four new stuffings designed to inspire consumers to use stuffings in new recipes and not just as an accompaniment to the traditional Sunday roast.

“The stuffings market is worth nearly £29m a year but it has been running flat for some time. It badly needs an innovative new product that will inspire consumers to use stuffings more often,” said Henrik Pade, Marketing Director for Symington’s.

“We have developed four new recipes with cous cous and wholemeal breadcrumbs as a base – the result is a stuffing with better texture, taste and mouthfeel than the traditional offerings. It also benefits from a healthy perception of cous cous by consumers.”

Mr Pade said stuffings were generally seen as a side dish but the new recipes opened up new opportunities for consumers to create great tasting meals for every day of the week.

He said: “The new range can now be used to stuff peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms providing great appeal for vegetarians as well as being used to stuff poultry, meat and fish.”

The new range comes in 150g packs and includes Sage & Onion, Onion & Thyme, Mediterranean and Cranberry recipes. All are free from artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and are low in fat.

Symington’s have designed packaging to be bright, modern and interesting to consumers with striking colours against a black background. Cartons come with stylised wheat ear cut outs on the front allowing consumers to see the product.

Mr Pade added: "Our Ainsley Harriott brand has driven forward the cous cous market by providing great tasting, quick and convenient foods and we are now bringing the same innovation and quality to do the same with the stuffings sector.”