Roasters creates new premium savoury pastry category.

Sunday lunch in the palm of your hand.

The Cotswold Food Partnership has relaunched three British traditions – the pie, the pasty and the Sunday lunch – all at the same time into the branded savoury pastry category. ‘Roasters – a Great British Tradition™’ is a brand new range of fresh hearty savoury foods from the Cotswold Food Partnership (CFP), in the style of sausage rolls but with a premium ‘Sunday lunch’ twist. It is designed to meet a growing demand for quality chilled savouries that can be eaten cold or hot, and either on the move or as the centre of a meal solution.

The launch features four varieties: Welsh Lamb & Mint, Scottish Beef & Mustard, English Pork & Apple, and British Chicken & Stuffing. All feature wholesome all-British recipes wrapped in a golden puff pastry, with quality ingredients and a bold new packaging design to stand out on the shelves. Every product has been created, baked and packed in the UK by British bakers and chefs.

The Roasters savoury rolls will have a standard RRP of £1.49 and are initially available from Morrisons from October 17th 2007, with further national distribution to be announced shortly.

CFP director Mark Rooza points out that the ready-to-eat chilled savouries sector was open for a new entry and for reinvention. “We believe the sector has lacked real innovation”, he says. “It’s become dominated by retail own label and some large brands that focus on the name and not the product.   We wanted Roasters to compete on quality, variety and premium price, instead of commodity and simple volume.”

Virtually the entire ingredients list in the Roasters range is UK-sourced, he adds, including flour, shortening, pastry glaze and the protein. All UK/regional meat is of the highest quality. Even the packaging is from a local supplier and kept to a minimum.

In looking at the chilled savouries market CFP drew a parallel to the recent ‘reinvention’ of sausages, says Mark Rooza: “The sausages category has been reinvigorated through a mix of intelligent NPD, quality ingredients, flavour profiles, pack sizes and packaging design. Retailers have seen category growth in both value and volume.
“We believe that the Roasters brand can regenerate the sausage roll in the same way, by turning a popular product into a premium handheld snack. People love to eat a good quality roast with all the trimmings.”

For more information email info@cotswoldfoodpartnership.co.uk or visit www.cotswoldfoodpartnership.co.uk