Asda’s Simply Roast in the Bag chicken flying high with FFP

09 December 2013

Great-tasting, succulent whole chicken, ready to be roasted in the bag with a variety of delicious added-value flavours have hit the chiller cabinets in Asda as part of their Butcher’s Selection range, with new ovenable printed packaging produced by FFP.

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FFP worked closely with leading UK food company Faccenda, who had been challenged by Asda to come up with a truly innovative packed product, and who worked closely throughout with FFP together with machinery manufacturers and ingredient suppliers to create the category-defining result.

The new packaging, part of FFP’s key Estercook high temperature packaging project, allows people to cook a delicious whole chicken, from scratch, without ever having to handle the raw bird. Many people miss out on the benefits of cooking because they lack confidence in handling and storing raw food. FFP’s Estercook packaging remedies this by taking the handling and the waste out of the equation. People take a convenient pack home and place it directly into the oven, so they don’t come into contact with the food until it is fully cooked.

The pack is simply pierced once, placed into the oven and left to cook in one of seven complementary flavoured coatings, from spicy piri-piri to traditional sage and onion. The pack forms a chamber around the bird, keeping the inside of the oven clean and allowing the moisture and flavourings from the chicken to surround and permeate the flesh. The chicken skin will brown within the pack, and customers can choose to open the pack a few minutes before the end of cooking if they want a crispy finish.

Asda are supporting the launch with a campaign called ‘Love Your Leftovers’, aimed at cutting waste, each bag printed with a QR code and a recipe idea, plus on-line video tips from Jim Viggars, Asda’s head of meat quality.