The relaunch will leverage the provenance, quality and taste credentials of “Golden Norfolk Turkey”, a product that has been a family favourite and a centrepiece of many Christmas dinners for over 30 years.

Says Bernard Matthews Farms Marketing Director, Matt Pullen: “’Golden Norfolk’ is our gold standard product and for us it represents ‘simple Norfolk goodness’. We believe consumer awareness and recognition of the ‘Golden Norfolk Turkey’ and its great taste will help restore quality perceptions across our cooked meats portfolio, and will be further enhanced by the launch of free range products under the ‘Golden Norfolk’ banner.”

A clear and simple structuring of the new cooked meats portfolio into a ‘good’, ‘better’ and ‘best’ tiering will ensure that shoppers can make the right choice for them, with offerings that are tasty, healthy and affordable for all.

Eight new high quality British ‘Golden Norfolk’ turkey breast products including slices, carvery cuts and thick cut fillets comprise the ‘better’ offering, with familiar favourites like Bernard Matthews Farms Wafer Thin Turkey Ham and Wafer Thin Turkey in the ‘good’ tier.

Top of the pyramid in ‘best’ are three ‘Golden Norfolk’ Free Range Turkey sliced breast meat products, which aim to broaden the appeal of Bernard Matthews and fuel the growing demand for free range products. Bernard Matthews Farms is already the UK’s largest free range turkey farmer and the company believes a free range offer in cooked meats will attract new customers, reinforce its farming heritage and expertise, and invite reappraisal of the brand.

All the turkey in the Bernard Matthews Farms cooked meats portfolio is now 100% British turkey meat from turkeys reared on our very own farms across Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire. The products are all low in saturated fats, with no artificial colours or flavours and, wherever possible, no preservatives. All packs carry clear front of pack nutritional information combining both Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) and the Food Standard Agency’s Traffic Light scheme.

Says Matt Pullen, “Although the business has been through a challenging 18 months, over 9 million households bought a Bernard Matthews Farms cooked meat product in the past year and there are positive signs of recovery, which this new range, as a key part of our brand repositioning, will support.

“The new range responds to consumer and shopper needs and by introducing ‘Golden Norfolk’ turkey into cooked meats, focusing on our farming heritage and launching branded free range cooked meats, I believe we can do a great deal to restore quality perceptions, consumer trust and drive new interest in this £1.2bn category.”

The new cooked meats range will benefit from £3 million above the line investment in the Bernard Matthews Farms brand from September to December under the communications platform ‘Proud to work at Bernard Matthews Farms’. The campaign includes product-specific advertisements for Golden Norfolk Turkey breast slices in national and women’s press in October, plus instore support, web activity, on-pack promotions and consumer PR.

All Bernard Matthews Farms’ turkey is now produced in the UK and the company is working towards UK-sourcing for its chicken and pork. All products carry clear country of origin labelling.