The chilled sector beckons for a new breed of Asian sauces

Sharwood's, a key player in ambient sauces, is to plunge itself into unknown territory with a range of chilled Asian sauces.

"The chilled sauce market is big [currently valued at £50M], but it is dominated by Italian sauces so there is limited choice," says marketing innovation manager Helen Doxon.

"These will be very different to ambient sauces - we are trying to appeal to a new audience. We've done a lot of research and there's a discrete group of consumers aged 35-plus who live in single or two-people households."

Sharwood's ambient sauces are currently available in glass jars, but the firm wants to bring the brand up to date for its new launch, so the chilled sauces will come in pouches, which have a 15-day shelf-life.

We started the innovation process in January using two development chefs - one to focus on oriental influences, the other on Indian, says Doxon. She claims that preparation is simple, without compromising on taste: "It's as easy as takeaway, and in some cases better quality. We benchmark very hard against a number of restaurant takeaways."

The biggest challenge in developing the sauces was achieving the correct shape and size of vegetable. "The ambient sauces use an 18mm dice, the chilled use 28-30mm. In the Kashmiri Korma, for example, we've added a good sized apricot - we're adding a twist to tradition."

Available in 300g packs, which contain two-three servings, the sauces retail at £1.99 and will be displayed alongside diced chicken in Waitrose and Sainsbury. The company is now looking at developing a catering range.