Innovation, cutting-edge technology, next-generation interactive content. You probably wouldn’t associate many – if any – of these words with ready meals.
But when I travelled to Oscar Mayer UK’s flagship facility in Wrexham earlier this month, I was shown how – and why – the business is pushing boundaries as it prepares to tackle a new frontier in pre‑made meal ranges.
The firm is perhaps best known for manufacturing own‑brand ready meals for some of the UK’s (and the world’s) biggest household names, including Disney, Patak’s and Cathedral City – not to mention national grocery powerhouses such as Waitrose, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
But now it is very firmly set to strike out on its own with Players World Kitchen, a genuinely innovative range that brings together some of the biggest names in women’s rugby and is set to leave a trailblazing interactive legacy.
During my visit, I had the opportunity to speak chief executive Ian Toal about the hub and the company’s latest venture.
‘A chilled meal - and some!’
I’ve perhaps exhausted all the potential superlatives I could have used about the range, and we’re still very much at the beginning of this article.
So let me explain plainly why Players World Kitchen is so different, and why it offers a unique take on the habitually humdrum world of supermarket ready meals (as important as they are to time‑pressed home chefs).
First and foremost, the range revolves around the star names that have been attached to the project, namely Poppy Cleall, Maud Muir and Carys Cox – rugby union players for England and Wales respectively.
Each of the three available dishes has been crafted from a recipe provided by each player: Slow Cooked Beef Ragu Pasta from Cleall; Greek‑style Chicken & Lamb with Vegetable Pilaf from Muir; and Chicken, Chorizo & Prawn Paella from Cox.
The recipes hold particular personal importance to their creators, representing cherished family moments, childhood memories and holiday experiences - with all the information behind the meals available at the consumer’s fingertips via on‑pack QR codes and supported by an accompanying YouTube series.
Commenting on the launch Toal explained that the idea was to create something that went the “extra mile”.
It’s not just a meal, it’s not just convenient and healthy, it has wider significance.
You’re actually doing something that’s linked to a player and their history and their bio.
Ian Toal, CEO, Oscar Mayer
“That’s part of why I did this as opposed to just another lasagne, because I wanted to create something that had a bit more of a story,” Toal adds.
As outlined in Food Manufacture’s 2026 trends report, today’s consumers are more interested in experience and look for brands that tell stories. Oscar Mayer’s latest launch taps into this nicely, with extensive background alongside nutritional and educational information.
“This is a chilled meal – and some," continues Toal. “I think we’re some of the first people to do some of this stuff. Will it all work? I don’t know, but what I do know is that we’re pushing boundaries that haven’t been pushed before and it’s fantastic for women’s rugby, and women’s sport in general. And this concept can roll out to so many things over the next few years.”
Players World Kitchen aims to be far more than just three dishes nominally sponsored by sports stars, with Cleall, Muir and Cox’s connections with the recipes told through a dedicated YouTube series.
Across each 25‑minute episode, the trio are challenged to cook their respective meals from scratch under the observation of Oscar Mayer’s resident elite chef, Paul Crowe, while explaining why they have chosen each dish.
Should this multi‑faceted new strategy pay off, it surely won’t be long before competitors take note and try it out for themselves.
“It’s truly experiential,” says Toal. “We’ve got a code that tells you about exactly what’s in it and how it came to be. We’ve given these meals a great amount of information that can really help you.
“And you’ve got the new barcode that takes you on the whole journey through podcasts, through programmes, through background information and through to the individual who created it.”
For Toal, the product offers an immersive experience that is not found in restaurants, with consumers able to learn about their food and where it comes from as they eat.
Raising the profile of women’s rugby
The range will be helpful in raising the profile of women’s rugby even further as the 2026 Six Nations reaches a crescendo over the coming weeks.
The players will directly receive 5% of all sales, with the meals spotlighting the salary inequities between women’s and men’s professional rugby.
While the elite international players who take part in the Men’s Six Nations are all full-time professionals, many of the players representing their nations in the women’s tournament are forced to combine their rugby career with part-time jobs - as the salaries they receive for playing the game are often not enough to cover living expenses.
Current estimates suggest that only around 20% of players taking part in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby are full-time professionals.
Inside the Gastro hub
The concept and new meals were developed at Oscar Mayer’s state‑of‑the‑art, “NASA‑inspired” Gastro hub facility, which not only contains a fully functional industrial kitchen, but is also kitted‑out with a TV studio modelled on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.
It’s in this studio - which also doubles as a futuristic boardroom - that the stars of Oscar Mayer’s upcoming YouTube series and Players World Kitchen range recorded their episodes and tried their hand at high‑pressure live cooking.
Here you’ll also find a bite‑sized replica of London’s Borough Market, as well as a room fitted with various reproductions of potential supermarket displays – all in a bid to woo potential buyers.
There is even a specially built space designed to invite members of the public in for market research discussions, complete with a two‑way mirror and microphones to communicate with them from the other side.
This sci-fi-like set-up has been crucial in the helping to create edgy new products like the Players World Kitchen range, says Toal.
But this space is totally unique - with the site designed with every step of the innovation journey in mind and offering a place where a concept can be transformed into a fully-formed, physical product.
“How many manufacturers allow their suppliers to talk directly to their customers? Maybe a few, but not on the scale that we do it,” Toal continues.
The innovation hub also benefits from AI, which can offer a score as to whether the product is likely to succeed, for what price point and where.
The process has enabled not only new concepts to be tested out before commercialisation but also sped up the process of creation to launch considerably.
Overall, Toal says the model has reduced the risk of product launch failure by around 80%.
“Customers can come and immerse themselves on a journey. And we’ve got something in the region of 80% to 90% success rate on the things we’ve done here.
“We’ve got some big brands out there now that stand up in their own right, but they would not have existed without the Gastrohub. The Cathedral City cheesy meals, for example, would never have got on to shelves in five months without it.”
