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Japanese brand Yo!, famous for its high street sushi restaurants, is expanding its reach into the slow-cooked category with a new range of Pulled Chicken Katsu and Pulled Pork Teriyaki meal kits, both based on restaurant favourites.

Developed by The Flava People collaboratively with Pilgrim's Europe, the new products will be launching exclusively in Asda stores across the UK from the beginning of April. The launch marks a big step for Yo! in a new category, offering consumers the chance to enjoy their favourite Japanese dishes at home.

The range incorporates multi-layered texture specifically into the Katsu line, which is finished with a crunchy katsu crumb for a crispy finish on top of rice or in bao buns. Both meals are designed to offer a fast dinner option, ready in just 30 minutes due to being slow cooked by Pilgrim's Europe for several hours, enabling 'perfectly tender meat'.

The Flava People is a family-run business specialising in flavour and brand partnerships, as well as owning several of its own brands. It has worked with numerous household names, including Guinness and Pinch of Nom, to bring flavours to the home.

Olivia Rooney, brand strategy manager at The Flava People, said: “The slow cook category has long been dominated by own label, which can struggle to stretch outside of traditional British and American flavours.  Our new launch is ready to disrupt the fixture and entice new, younger foodies to slow cook. Launching under a well-known brand gives shoppers the confidence they need to try something a little different for dinner and inject credibility into the category.”

Sam Clarke, buyer for the slow-cooked and ready-to-cook meat, fish and produce business unit in commercial food at Asda, added: “There’s a real opportunity across the slow cooked range to use brand-led innovation to increase incremental shoppers into the category. With Yo! being a growing brand across ambient, we're excited to see how this first-to-market launch will impact slow-cooked as a category while also offering customers something exciting and unique."