In the coming few months Bernard Matthews will relaunch the brand with a new identity, supported by a series of new product launches in response to the growing demand for healthier, convenient and affordable food. This plan aims to reposition the Company for growth and has three key elements: refocusing on British Turkey farming and production in East Anglia, making products that better meet the needs of consumers today, and championing British Agriculture.

The new brand identity ‘Bernard Matthews Farms’ is a big move forward from the current brand identity and packaging designs. It will see the Company reconnect with its British farming origins and reflect its capability as a business that delivers from ‘farm to fork’. The new logo and packs are simple, fresh and contemporary with the turkey weathervane representing the Company’s specialism in turkey farming. The new identity will roll out across all packaging and will be adopted corporately at Bernard Matthews’ Great Witchingham headquarters, its operations in Norfolk and Suffolk, and on the Company’s transport fleet.

As of 1 September 2008 all Bernard Matthews branded turkey products will be made with 100% British turkey from its farms across East Anglia, firmly placing British provenance and farming back at the heart of the business.  All the new and existing favourite Bernard Matthews products have benefited from lower saturated fat and salt levels and the removal of artificial colours and flavours, but without compromising on taste.

At the forefront of the new product introductions is the August launch of ‘Big Green Tick’, a new frozen product range for consumers looking for healthy, convenient, and great tasting food. As the name implies, the new product range is low in saturated fat, only uses 100% British turkey breast meat and wherever possible will have Green on the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs).  The second major launch, available from September, will be a transformed and reinvigorated portfolio of cooked meats, leveraging the provenance, quality and taste credentials of the ‘Golden Norfolk’ turkey, a product which has been the centrepiece of many Christmas dinners for over 30 years.

As the nation’s largest free range turkey farmer, Bernard Matthews will also extend its offering of free-range turkey products to satisfy a growing consumer demand.

In 2007, Bernard Matthews recorded a 9.5 per cent drop in sales for continuing operations to £326 million with an operating loss of £9.6 million. The Company expects to return to profitable growth this year and will roll out a new marketing and advertising campaign this autumn emphasising the firm’s commitment to British turkey farming.