New sausage has beans, so watch out you sausage has-beens

For years sausages and baked beans have partnered each other on millions of dinner plates around the UK, but until now the combination has meant separate purchase of the items (that's unless you count the tinned beans and sausages). Now, however, food giant Heinz has finally twigged that it would make sense to combine the two.

It has become the latest company to team up with sausage manufacturer Manor Born for the launch of a branded speciality sausage called Heinz Pork and Baked Bean Sausages. The sausage maker has already been behind a similar venture in conjunction with the Colman's Mustard brand, launched a year ago.

The product is a combination of premium pork sausages with a baked bean filling through the centre. Not only does this filling add to the overall taste of the sausages, because the baked beans comprise 28% of the product, it also lowers the sausage's fat content. As a result, the sausages contain 50% less fat than a standard pork sausage, says Heinz.

"This is the first move for Heinz baked beans into the chilled sector," says brand manager Matt Walker. "Baked beans have a natural fit with sausages as a host food, and the Pork and Baked Bean Sausages bring the two together."