Naturally Fast Food chain LEON today announces a major new partnership with supermarket giant Sainsbury’s launching its first ever range of grocery products designed for the home.
LEON, founded in 2004 with the mission to create healthy fast food, will see a massive growth in its business with one of the UK’s biggest and most respected supermarkets.
The exciting new partnership will allow LEON to take their brand nationwide with millions of customers being able to buy home groceries in over 600 Sainsbury’s stores.
The range of 14 products will appear in-store from 13 October and includes menu favourites such as vegan and non-vegan sauces, mayonnaises, vinegars, olive oils, a balsamic vinegar and fresh bread all created to enjoy at home.
All the groceries have been made with LEON’s flavour-first philosophy using no artificial ingredients.
Over the last 15 years LEON’s mission has been to create and serve dishes which introduce new flavour combinations and product innovations, like the Beetroot Ketchup, to inspire people to eat more plant-based food.
The partnership with Sainsbury’s allows LEON to continue that mission, expanding beyond its London-focussed footprint and give people across the country quick and convenient ways to bring LEON’s popular food into their homes.
The first range will pave the way for future launches from LEON, with regular new products scheduled to follow in 2020 and beyond.
John Vincent, co-founder of LEON, said: “Finding the right partner to help us take our mission into people’s homes was so important. Sainsbury’s is a supermarket that, like us, puts food and flavour first, so teaming up together just makes sense. Now we’re embarking on a partnership that champions food innovation, alongside our values.
“This brand new range is an important step for us as a business as we grow beyond restaurants and continue to live out our ambition to help people access Naturally Fast Food, everyday.”
Rachel Eyre, Head of Future Brands at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are excited to be partnering with LEON to bring their products to the nation’s shoppers for the first time, exclusively for Sainsbury’s customers. At Sainsbury’s, we’re constantly looking for ways to offer our customers new and innovative products, and LEON’s flavour-first philosophy can help us do just that.
“We want to surprise and delight our customers with exciting new products and brands
that they can only find in Sainsbury’s, and we’re confident this exclusive range from LEON will be a hit. This initial range will be followed by further innovation and we will be working closely with LEON and with our customers to decide where to take it next.”
From sauces through to vegan mayos, oils and vinegars and a new range of freshly baked, seasonally inspired sourdough, each product is about flavour and versatility – to help everyone make vegetables and meat taste good.
The cold-pressed, single variety extra virgin olive oil, made exclusively with robust Picual olives, has an herbaceous, grassy aroma, a full olive-fruit flavour and a peppery finish, which makes it ideal for dressing salads or cooked vegetables. It also has a high Oleic acid content. This gives the oil a high smoke point which means, uniquely among extra virgin olive oils, it’s also great for cooking. This makes it the ideal olive oil for everyday use.
LEON is also bringing some of its most popular sauces from its menu into Sainsbury’s store and the nation’s homes.
To make its brown sauce, LEON traced the sauce back to its roots in traditional Indian tamarind sauce. By accentuating this central pillar of flavour, LEON has ramped up the flavour profile of its brown sauce, giving a clear, sweet-sour structure to spice up meal times.
The range’s four vegan mayos are made with faba beans, which acts as an egg replacement, to create rich, creamy, satisfying condiments. The aioli (garlic mayo) and ketchup both reflect existing sauces on LEON’s menu, with others like the tamarind brown sauce offering consumers a new and tasty alternative.
Sourdough makes up the final piece of LEON’s first phase of products and will be baked fresh every day in Sainsbury’s in-store bakeries.
Alongside loaves baked with Quinoa or Sweet Potato and Carrot, the range will also include a Rye Pumpernickel and a “Super White” Sourdough.
Creating the perfect sourdough doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why LEON has developed the loaves using a 20-year-old ‘mother’ starter. The older the starter, the more unique the texture and flavour.
Each day, a piece is drawn from the ‘mother’ to create the next batch. The dough is then fermented for 20 hours and let rest for a further three, shaped and divided, and let rest again for three more hours.
LEON believes that eating more plants is kinder to the planet, and that a diet rich and diverse in colourful vegetables could lead to a happier body and mind.
This has been kept in consideration whilst developing each and every product, so the new range works whether you’re happily vegan, a lover of meat or simply experimenting with eating more vegetables.
For full details of the LEON range, please see our product notes.