The latest range is the first of a number of new product initiatives across the entire chilled seafood category and is inspired by seafood recipes from all over the world. The range includes Malaysian King Prawn Laksa, Sweet Thai Chilli Prawns, and Catalan Fish Stew. The combination of authentic, fresh ingredients captures the scratch cooking experience and can be made in less than seven minutes. Each meal kit contains three separate compartments; succulent seafood, freshly cut vegetables and a perfectly matched sauce, all visible through clear panels and prepared daily by Lyons Seafoods in Warminster.

Paul Vita, Lyons Seafoods Marketing Director, comments: “Lyons Seafoods is committed to providing consumers with convenient, healthy and delicious fish solutions. We believe that our latest innovation of ready-to-cook fish meals will transform the chilled fixtures and lead the way in demystifying the challenges associated with cooking fish. The new packaging is attractive and the meals will make seafood more accessible to customers who were previously too intimidated to experiment with fish meals.”

To coincide with this latest product launch, Lyons Seafoods is also pleased to announce the opening of a brand new speciality preparation facility at its Warminster site; named ‘Mise en Place’ after the French phrase used in professional kitchens referring to the organization and arrangement of ingredients necessary for a meal. Mise en Place will house a team of qualified chefs to prepare an array of authentic, fresh vegetables and succulent seafood on a daily basis. It is testament to Lyons’ continued commitment to providing responsibly sourced seafood and aims to set a benchmark within the fish industry for top quality, fresh ingredients.

Lyons Seafoods, one of the UK’s leading seafood suppliers, is delighted to announce a brand new range of chilled, ready to cook seafood meals, providing time poor consumers with a convenient, healthy and delicious solution.

Each meal kit contains three separate compartments prepared daily by Lyons; succulent seafood, freshly cut vegetables and a perfectly matched sauce, capturing the authenticity of a scratch cooking experience for consumers. The combination of ingredients can be cooked-up in less that seven minutes and offers the pleasure of “real cooking” with no hassle, wasted ingredients or mess in the kitchen.

Inspired by seafood recipes from all over the world, the mouth-watering range incorporates a medley of modern classics for your palate including; Malaysian King Prawn Laksa, Sweet Thai Chilli Prawns and Catalan Fish Stew.

Research conducted by Lyons shows that despite our best intentions to incorporate the government’s ‘two a week’ fish initiative into our diets, the perceived level of preparation and fuss associated with fish can prove to be too challenging when time is of the essence. Of those surveyed 71% confessed to relying on unhealthy fast food and 50% only eat fish in restaurants as they don’t know how to cook it, or simply just don’t have the time!

Lyons aims to demystify cooking with fish and encourage consumers who are intimidated to experiment with simple yet delicious fish solutions.

Whilst Fish Friday may be a longstanding tradition, with Lyons Seafoods, now every day can be a fish day!

Priced at £5.99, the full range of Lyons ready to cook fish meal solutions for two people is now available in larger Sainsbury’s stores.

Norgaard joined the company in 1997 following its buy-out from Allied Domecq and had a massive impact on the business, which was, at that time, in serious decline. Norgaard turned the company around, propelling it to become the UK’s undisputed leader in prawns. Instrumental to this success were three key decisions. Firstly to re orientate the business from a frozen to chilled business pre empting the general market. Secondly the introduction & commercial development of warm water prawns, helping set the standards for ethical, ecological & environmental sourcing and making them the “everyday treat” they are today. And thirdly, in 2007 converting 100% of Lyons chilled king prawn production to freshly cooked, creating a truly consumer driven USP in terms of product quality.

Xavier Govare, Chief Executive of Alfesca said: “Ole Norgaard’s strategic wisdom, unique management style and overwhelming passion for seafood have been the absolutely key factors behind the success Lyons Seafoods today and I would like to thank him personally and wish him well in his retirement. We are very pleased to announce that Craig Walker, who will succeed Ole, has, as of September 1st, taken the role of CEO, Alfesca UK, to ensure a smooth transition. This is an exciting time for our business and we look forward to Craig’s leadership.”

To ensure a continuation of the company’s leadership in developing the speciality seafood category, from November 1st Jonathan Hodgson, Sales Director of Lyons Seafoods, will take on the responsibility for all of the UK sales activities of both Lyons and Farne Salmon. Barry Chung, Sales Director of Farne Salmon, will report to Jonathan from this date. In addition, Paul Vita, Marketing Director of Lyons Seafoods, will take on the responsibility for all of the marketing and new product development activities of both companies. Helen Close, NPD Manager of Farne Salmon will report to Paul.

The award follows an unannounced audit at its site in Warminster, which Lyons Seafoods passed with flying colours, having zero non-conformances – a record.

Catherine Watkinson site senior technical manager at Lyons Seafoods, says:

“The BRC Grade A* certification recognises our commitment to product safety and quality, as well as our dedication to continuous improvement of our business practices. We’ve held the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety for the past 10 years, and constant hard work and dedication from our whole team – from senior management through to the shop floor – has helped us achieve the BRC’s grading”

The Standard is designed to provide certification for food manufacturers who implement good manufacturing practices and have the supporting quality management systems to produce safe, legal products meeting their customer’s quality requirements.

The award highlights companies that demonstrate a real dedication to minimising their impact on the land. Lyons Seafoods, which is Europe’s leading processor of King prawns, was praised for its commitment to reducing its packaging waste.

“We have reduced our landfill by around 1,000 tonnes per annum”, explains Paul Succony, Operations Director for Lyons Seafoods. “All paper packaging used within the company comes from Forest Stewardship Council approved sources or holds Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We’ve reduced the number of vehicles delivering packaging or removing waste, and operate a closed loop with our suppliers who convert our scrap into new packaging.”

Speaking on Lyons Seafoods’ win, Iain Boyd, the Trust’s Corporate Relations Officer and organiser of the event, says:

“Lyons Seafoods has invested £300k to reduce the environmental impact of packaging materials and has aimed to get 100% recyclable
and re-usable packaging where possible.”

Paul concludes:

“We take our company’s impact on the environment throughout its total operation, from the farming of the prawns through to the customer, very seriously. We are pleased to have our efforts recognised by the Trust, who do so much for our environment in Wiltshire.”

The awards scheme reward environmental best practice from Wiltshire and Swindon businesses and is in its third year.

Over the past 15 years Lyons Seafoods has led the market in terms of responsible sourcing and continues to drive positive change in all areas of the supply chain.

Research conducted by Lyons Seafoods, Europe’s leading processor of king prawns, indicates that consumers will continue to watch waistlines this summer by choosing very carefully while dining out.

“With the lighter evenings and warmer weather comes a trend for healthier eating,” says Paul Vita, marketing director at Lyons Seafoods. “We know that consumers like large, juicy king prawns, viewing them as an indulgent choice and our research shows that the health benefits of prawns are beginning to be recognised. Prawns are naturally low in calories with 100g of the shellfish containing only 80 kcals compared to 163 kcals for 100g of chicken or 209 kcals for minced beef.”

As well as ready to eat and raw king prawns, Lyons Seafoods manufactures smoked and marinated king prawns, which offer consumers a twist on the traditional king prawn. Products are available from Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda.

Summer sales of prawns exceeded 6,000 tonnes in 2009 and Lyons Seafoods’s research shows they will be a popular choice for consumers in summer 2010.

The goujons, developed specifically for restaurants, are made from pangasius fillets, coated in a light, low salt batter. They are fully cooked, offering the caterer a quick, and easy to prepare fish option – simply remove from the freezer and either oven baker or fry. As with all Lyons Seafoods products, the goujons are responsibly sourced.

The BFFF Annual Awards seek to recognise, reward and publicise the advancements of quality initiatives in frozen food. Results from the awards will be announced on 10 June.

Find out more about the benefits of frozen food and where it comes from.