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Woolworths has taken another bite out of the $900 million ready meals pie with the launch of a new range of private label ready-to-heat dishes.

Under the Woolworths Simply moniker, the new meals include Beef Bourguignon cooked in a red wine and garlic sauce, Slow Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork with a hickory-smoked barbecue sauce, and the Roast Chicken with Tomato and Basil Stuffing.

The range includes both meat dishes and sides which take between 45 and 60 mins to cook in the oven.

Vegetable sides include the Simply Steamed Vegetables with Garlic Butter, the Simply Roast Potato Bake with Béchamel Sauce and the Simply Stir Fry Vegetables and Mushroom.

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Recommended retail prices range from $3.00 for a Rainbow Stir Fry through to $13.99 for the Slow-cooked Mediterranean Lamb Shanks.

Both Woolworths and Coles have been forging ahead with their private label offerings in the ready meals space, which is reportedly growing at an annual rate of 3.6 per cent in Australia.

Earlier this year, Coles came out with a range of ‘chilled’ meals that have never been frozen', making up a total range of 77 products under the Coles ready-made meal umbrella.

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