Japanese food brand YO! is expanding its reach into the slow-cooked category with a new range of Pulled Chicken Katsu (RRP £5.75) and Pulled Pork Teriyaki (RRP £5.50) dishes, based on flavours that are popular in its restaurants.
Developed by The Flava People in collaboration with Pilgrims Europe, the new products will be launched exclusively in Asda at the beginning of April in 305 stores. This marks a major step for YO! into a new category, leading the way in making Japanese food more accessible to UK consumers while introducing younger shoppers to the fixture.
The new meals can be cooked in only 30 minutes thanks to Pilgrim’s Europe slow-cooking the products for hours to make the meat tender.
The launch will be supported across multiple YO! touchpoints, from its Love Club newsletter to over 250,000 followers across social media platforms. In addition, the products will be available with an exclusive 20% restaurant discount for shoppers purchasing from the new range.
Olivia Rooney, Brand Strategy Manager at The Flava People, said: “We’ve worked hard to bring these iconic Japanese flavours to life in a way that is easy, delicious, and exciting for consumers, paired with the ultimate trust in a leading brand like YO!. Collaboratively bringing this to life with the teams at Pilgrims and YO! has been brilliant, and we’ve seen genuine excitement among everyone involved to get this onto shelves.
“The slow cook category has long been dominated by own label, which can struggle to stretch outside of traditional British and American flavours. Our new launch is ready to disrupt the fixture and entice new, younger foodies to slow cook. Launching under a well-known brand gives shoppers the confidence they need to try something a little different for dinner and inject credibility into the category.”
Sam Clarke, Buyer for Slow Cooked and Ready to Cook, Meat, Fish & Produce Business Unit in Commercial Food, Asda, added: “There’s a real opportunity across the slow cooked range to use brand-led innovation to increase incremental shoppers into the category. With YO! being a growing brand across ambient, we’re excited to see how this first-to-market launch will impact slow cooked as a category, while also offering customers something exciting and unique.”
