Hitting shelves later this month, Chicago Town has announced the launch of two frozen desserts in a move to elevate big nights in for family and friends.
Expanding its premium tiered Ultimate range, both the Cookie Bars and Chocolate Brownies are suitable for cooking in the oven and microwave and directly target those looking to go to town on the Ultimate Pizza Night In.
With meal deals continuing to prove popular amongst takeout, retail chilled and food-to-go offerings, Chicago Town’s Pizza Night-in meal deal brings added convenience coming straight-from-the-freezer, with the desserts sitting alongside its Pizzas and Garlic Bread offerings.
Chicago Town’s Cookie Bars, 234g, MRRSP £3.95
The all-new Cookie Bars elevate a takeaway favourite, with four individual bars oozing with chocolate goodness. Combining milk and dark chocolate chunks and topped with milk chocolate chunks and pink and white marshmallows, Chicago Town’s new Cookie Bars serve up optimum gooey indulgence.
Chicago Town’s Chocolate Brownies, 260g, MRRSP £3.95
Topped with a caramelised cookie crumb and inspired by rumour and legend that Brownies originate from Chicago, Chicago Town has put an indulgent spin on an American classic. With four brownies per pack, there are plenty to go round.
“It’s an exciting year for us at Chicago Town,” said Marketing Manager Rachel Bradshaw. “Not only have we unveiled our £4.5m brand campaign but we’ve launched four new products across pizzas and sides and we’re now launching desserts.
“Knowing that our customers love a pizza night in, we’ve gone to town on the occasion, launching our two Ultimate sweet treats. With meal deals continuing to be a fan favourite, this gave us the opportunity to create an epic £10 bundle for those getting together to go to town on Pizza Night. After all, every Pizza Night In is worthy of a sweet dessert!”
The campaign will be supported by a two-week Meta campaign later this month.
Today, Goodfella’s unveiled its new marketing campaign, which forms part of a wider brand refresh.
The campaign marks a complete brand reset for Goodfella’s, with a focus on togetherness, family, and the joy of midweek meals – replacing the "Made with Respect" platform introduced in 2019 – and establishes a modern reincarnation of the Italian-American family ethos at the heart of the brand.
The campaign creative, whose sentiment is replicated across all comms channels, reveals what happens when a single bite of a Goodfella’s pizza is so delicious that you instinctively shout “Goooood!” This sets off a chain reaction, rippling across the country and igniting an interplanetary, multidimensional celebration of Goodfella’s pizza. After all, there’s good, then there’s Goodfella’s goooood.
The campaign is Goodfella’s’ most ambitious yet, led by a dynamic 30” and 20” TV commercial supported across BVOD, PVOD, OOH, Twitch, radio, PR, social media, in-game advertising as well as a gaming partnership with e-sports team GIANTX.
The new brand identity and eye-catching campaign, which follows the rollout of a new logo and new packaging in October 2024, was created by TBWA\MCR and comes as the popularity of great quality shop-bought pizza continues to grow, with the number of frozen pizza occasions enjoyed at home up by seven per cent and volume sales of frozen pizzas up by two per cent year-on-year in 2024.
Goodfella’s recognises the growing opportunity to celebrate pizzas as a midweek meal and believes its commitment to quality – such as using freshly-made individual dough balls, baking their pizzas on authentic Italian stone, and daily-made signature sauce to create specific ranges – make it a perfect choice for all pizza lovers, with sales up in volume by 10.8 per cent.
It is the latest step to drive momentum behind the brand, following the introduction of an improved recipe across its best-selling Stonebaked Thin Margherita and Pepperoni pizzas in October 2024, tapping into a growing demand for more authentic flavours and lighter, crispier bases.
“The frozen pizza category is growing in popularity, particularly as a midweek meal," said Mike Sowerby, Marketing Director at Birds Eye, which owns Goodfella's. "As consumers look for pizzeria quality options, we want to remind them of the consistently great taste of Goodfella’s, which delivers good, honest, tasty food to satisfy the whole family. Whether you’re a meat-lover, vegetarian, or gluten-free, there’s something for everyone in our non-HFSS compliant frozen pizza range. With our new brand identity, fantastic campaign and enhanced recipes across our Stonebaked Thin range, it’s an exciting time for the brand that we’re confident will firmly establish Goodfella’s as a leader in the category.”
Leading frozen pizza brand Goodfella’s has announced its new partnership with the Irish Rugby Football Union as an Official Sponsor of the Irish Women’s Rugby Team.
This alliance marks Goodfella’s first major sporting partnership, and comes at an exciting time for Irish Rugby as they celebrate the 150th anniversary and gear up for a high profile tournament agenda in 2025.
Starting January 2025, the Goodfella’s sponsorship will focus on promoting values of unity, camaraderie, and the joy of sharing great moments with friends and family. The brand aims to highlight its commitment to supporting Irish culture; helping raise the profile of women’s sport and celebrating the success and potential of the Irish women’s rugby programme.
“Women’s rugby in Ireland has been growing at an incredible pace, and there’s never been a more exciting time to be involved,” John McCarthy, country manager of Birds Eye Ireland – of which Goodfella’s is a part of – commented.
“Goodfella’s believes that rugby, like pizza, is all about sharing, enjoyment, and celebrating moments with others, bringing people together over great food and good times. The Irish Women’s Rugby team embodies dedication, teamwork and resilience and we're incredibly excited to support them on their journey and to be part of their story.”
The announcement comes at a time of significant transformation for Goodfella’s, which has recently undergone a major brand redesign, with fresh new packaging, a renewed commitment to quality and nutrition, and bold plans for 2025.
As part of the new partnership, Goodfellas will provide supporters and fans with exciting opportunities to engage with the Irish Women’s Rugby team in the lead-up and during the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and tournaments throughout 2025.
Leading ice-cream tub brand Ben & Jerry’s has announced the launch of two new indulgent SKUs - Bohemian Raspberry and Brookies & Cream Sundae.
Bohemian Raspberry is a non-dairy music-inspired raspberry SKU celebrating 50 years of one of the world’s most iconic songs. Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae is an innovative new flavour, inspired by the flavour combination of brownies and cookies to create a brookie, bringing the bakery-favourite to the ice cream category for the very first time.
Ben & Jerry’s Bohemian Raspberry launches in partnership with Queen and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the band’s iconic song, Bohemian Rhapsody. The collaboration flavour of Bohemian Raspberry is part of Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy range, made with the brand’s oat-based non-dairy recipe. The new tub includes fudgy brownies and rich raspberry swirls tapping into the growing trend for berry and raspberry flavours which saw more than 18 million searches in 2024. Proceeds from Bohemian Raspberry will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which helps fund the global fight against AIDS.
Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae is the latest addition to Ben and Jerry’s successful Sundaes range, which has grown 32 per cent YoY, bringing together the ice cream innovators two most popular flavours (Cookie Dough & Chocolate Fudge Brownie) into one legendary Sundae. The new SKU features creamy vanilla ice cream packed full of fudgy brownie-style cookie dough, golden cookie swirls, and white ampersand chunks, perfectly showcasing how the best things are even better when they’re together.
“We're thrilled to introduce two fantastic new ice creams from Ben & Jerry's. First up, Bohemian Raspberry is making a comeback, as a non-dairy flavour. We first launched Bohemian Raspberry back in 2007 after a fan’s suggestion, and what could be more rock ‘n’ roll than bringing it back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody,” Flo Howell, country business lead at Ben & Jerry’s UK, commented.
“Brookies & Cream Sundae embodies our belief that good things are even better together. Combining cookies and brownies was a no-brainer for us, and consumer testing showed it’s a hit.”
Like all Ben & Jerry’s products, the new SKUs are made with Fairtrade Certified ingredients including vanilla, sugar and cocoa.
Both Ben & Jerry’s Brookies & Cream Sundae and Ben & Jerry’s Bohemian Raspberry are available in the grocery, convenience and wholesale channels from this month.
Despite a challenging year in 2024 for ice cream manufacturers, Mars has continued to outperform the overall market in value sales (+two per cent) and notably multipack unit (+five per cent) and value sales (+3 per cent) which was its best performing sector for 2024.
Kerry Cavanaugh, general manager at Mars Chocolate Drinks & Treats, says: “The real driver of our multipack performance was the roll out of our new four pack Bounty, Twix and Maltesers ice cream bars, suggesting consumers are increasingly buying ice cream for at home consumption as a dessert or treat, rather than on the go.
“Snickers has long been a hero product of our range in the UK, and the white flavour has proved to be extremely popular in other European countries. In Germany, the Snickers White Ice Cream bar runs at 70 per cent of the original Snickers ROS.
“In the UK, 13 per cent of all multipack ice cream sales are a white chocolate variant, and coupled with the popularity of the Snickers brand, we see a great opportunity to appeal to ice cream and white chocolate fans alike with the launch of Snickers White Ice Cream bar in 2025!”
Snickers White Ice Cream bar is packed with real roasted peanuts, nougat and caramel, covered in a white chocolate. Snickers White Ice Cream bar multipacks are available in convenience and wholesale channels. Multipack RSP £2.50.
In a fresh move to enhance customer choice and convenience for retailers, Nisa has introduced a new 3-for-£4 mix-and-match freezer deal through to 2025.
This deal replaces Nisa’s previous 5-for-£6 Freezer Filler promotion, bringing an innovative twist that aligns with evolving shopper preferences for flexibility and variety.
The new mix-and-match deal allows customers to choose any three qualifying products for £4, providing greater freedom to tailor meals to individual needs. This shift comes as part of Nisa’s commitment to addressing the growing demand for customisable and cost-effective meal solutions. The 3-for-£4 structure is designed to appeal to a broad range of shoppers, especially those seeking convenience without sacrificing choice or budget.
Research indicates a significant consumer trend toward “Mix and Match” promotions across the retail sector, as customers increasingly value the ability to personalise meal options. This approach enhances flexibility and broadens the appeal to a diverse shopper base, who may not engage with fixed, repetitive deals. Within Nisa’s customer base, an increase of 17 per cent YOY in partners buying into the freezer deal promotion demonstrates an increased demand for a developing promotion.
Retail analysts highlight that mix-and-match deals encourage larger basket sizes and cross-category purchases, boosting customer engagement and offering a fresh shopping experience. As a result, mix-and-match deals are emerging as a powerful tool for retailers aiming to differentiate their offerings and provide greater customer value in a highly competitive market.
Nisa’s new 3-for-£4 deal has been developed in response to feedback and insights from a review of former footfall-driving promotions. Findings revealed that recurring meal deals often led to shopper fatigue, with the same set of fixed products causing some shoppers to become disengaged and reducing their purchase frequency.
The new promotion offers a dynamic range of options that will change periodically, allowing customers to try new products and avoiding the risk of stockpiling frozen items that can lead to a slower buying cycle.
Alongside this increased choice, stores will see enhanced margin benefits compared to traditional fixed-frequency discounts. With the lower price point breaking the £6 barrier, the new 3-for-£4 promotion will also appeal to price-sensitive shoppers, making it more accessible and appealing to a larger audience.
“I think it’s important to remember that Frozen is a value-driven category, so it’s great to offer retailers a strong and compelling deal. A leading offer is crucial in this space," said Jack Matthews, Partner at Bradley’s Supermarkets.
“Switching the mechanic to a “3 for £4” deal should help us drive sales, as it makes the offer more appealing to a wider range of customers. It also provides greater flexibility in the products they choose.
“This change encourages customers to stock up and fill their freezers, rather than focusing solely on meal occasions as the previous deal did.”
Hannah Lockwood-Geck, Category Controller at Nisa, added: “This exciting new ‘3 for £4’ mix-and-match frozen deal marks an important step in responding to our customers’ preferences and ensuring that we keep bringing innovative and appealing offers to our partners.
“By replacing our previous promotion with a flexible deal that allows consumers to personalise their choices, we’re enabling stores to provide an even better experience. This updated approach means our retailers can offer more tailored selections to match local preferences, improve margins, and better serve their communities. We’re confident that this promotion will drive higher engagement and create a more satisfying shopping experience.”
In addition to delivering a customer-friendly solution, Nisa’s new promotion benefits retailers by providing customisable deal ranges that can adapt to local preferences. The promotion also aligns with seasonal trends, key events, and supply chain efficiencies, further enhancing the value for Nisa’s retail partners.