A SCOTTISH pizza company has signed a major deal in the food service sector which will see its products available at more than 400 pubs across England.
Eat Balanced, which aims to make its products healthier than alternatives already on the market, declined to specify the exact value of the contract but indicated the agreement with Spirit Pub Group was likely to be worth more than six figures.
From tomorrow Eat Balanced's new Pizza Power Kids brand will be on the menu in Spirit's outlets with the Glasgow business, hoping it could sell up to 500,000 of the cheese and tomato product.
The pizza includes seaweed among the ingredients in its base which has allowed the company to lower the levels of sodium to 3.5 per cent, which compares favourably to the 40 per cent present in some other brands. The seaweed also provides vitamins such as iron,
It is also said to be lower in saturated fat than other competitors while the red pepper puree sauce contains a dose of vitamins A and C.
The company, which was set up in later 2010, stated its five-inch children's pizzas provide around 15 per cent of the guideline daily amounts of nutrients a child needed.
Founder and chief executive Donnie Maclean said: "This is a significant deal for us as it demonstrates our ability to become a serious new player in the market.
"I believe this is just the start as our product offers great potential to those running family restaurants and family-oriented outlets who are looking for new and better ways to enhance their offering. Pizza is, after all, one of the most popular children's' foods in the UK and we believe our product offers a convenient family-friendly dish that will support future volumes and value growth for food service operators."
Mr Maclean said feedback on the products had been positive and added: "We know that kids love them and parents love what we have achieved in terms of health. One of the most exciting aspects of our development is that we can help the food service industry sell more of the healthy option than is currently possible, making this a win-win-win for operators, parents and children."
Mr Maclean, who was mentored in the Entrepreneurial Spark business incubator, developed the initial range of pizzas along with Glasgow University human nutrition Professor Mike Lean.
Those products - with flavours such as cheese and cherry tomato, spicy chicken and ham and pineapple - are already stocked by retailers including Sainsbury's and Asda. They have also proven popular with members of the Scottish international rugby team.
Spirit Pub Company's Helen Wallace said: "We're delighted to be able to include the Pizza Power Kids on our new kids menu.
"The menu was created by our Little Leaders, 10 children who won a national competition to help us shape our new menu.
"They picked the Under the Sea theme for the menu and voted the new cheese and tomato pizza as a firm favourite - and it's great we're keeping parents happy too with a healthy option."
Katie Sillars, brand director at Eat Balanced, said the company had created a range of point-of-sale materials to emphasise the ingredients in the kids' pizzas and also has a nutritional resource on its website.
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