The latest project we've been given is to rebrand a formerly popular food product which is now generally regarded as undesirable and naff. From the list of various 70's treats (lard, tapioca, fondue, rice pudding etc) I chose to try and make mushy peas more appealing. I think the main reason that mushy peas have fallen out of favour is the general trend towards foods that are fresh and unprocessed. We have all seen Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and others on T.V advocating fresh produce and, coupled with the mistrust surrounding processed foods, this has been the force behind a massive shift in attitudes towards food.
To bring mushy peas back onto the dinner-plates of Britain then, the product needs to be made fresher and more nutritious. Mushy peas are actually not made from small garden peas that we buy frozen and have on the side of various dinners. Instead garden peas are left to mature and dry out to become marrowfat peas which are then boiled down with some sodium bicarbonate to soften before salt, sugar and green food colouring are added (the product becomes a less vibrant grey-green when boiled so to make it the fluorescent green colour we associate with mushy peas they add some chemicals that are banned in most of europe, and are under a voluntary ban by alot of stores and chippies).
Now I like mushy peas but what I've just described sounds despicable so what I propose to do is move mushy peas from the tinned foods section to the fresh soups, sauces, smoothies and dips fridge in the supermarket and use fresh green peas (or frozen ones which have been defrosted since these are actually more nutritious) along with nice fresh ingredients like lemon juice, fresh herbs and olive oil that many top chefs use in their mushy pea recipes (which will preserve the peas to some degree). Hopefully, the peas would retain a lush green colour and look really nourishing and tasty as opposed to the artificial toxic glow of processed mushy peas.
They would appear in the refrigerated section with fresh dips, soups and smoothies and I will need to research some of these in order to establish the competition and also get ideas for the packaging. Brands such as Covent Garden and Innocent spring to mind instantly but I'll have a proper browse in Waitrose to see the other products I am up against. Upmarket Waitrose is really the supermarket I envisage my product being in as I anticipate the fresh produce will drive the cost of my product up to well over the 18p Asda Smart Price Mushy Peas or even the 48p Bachelors Chip Shop Style version. This is not to say it would be sold nowhere else, it's just that aiming the product at the customers of a particular store helps me to picture the type of person who would buy it.
Research:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/food/recipes/queryengine?templatestyle=refine_by_1_gg&orig_kw=&config=db&scope=recipes&page=1&pagesize=15&attrib_26=keywords&oper_26=eq&val_26_1=mushy+peas&submit=Search
BBC food mushy peas recipes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/minty-mushy-peas-recipe/index.html
Jamie Oliver mushy peas recipe
http://www.mushypeas.co.uk/aboutpeas.html?pid=3
Lockwoods Mushy Peas website complete with 'mushy malcolm' mascot lol
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article631377.ece
Heston Blumenthal and his test tube mushy peas
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1633141,00.html
article on food trends in UK
No comments:
Post a Comment