UK Confectionery Looking Healthy
Health is all the rage in the UK confectionery market this year. Key players like Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Nestlé Rowntree and Dunhills Haribo are bringing out more “responsible” lines for children and parents alike. Some of these products trade on their “lightness”, others on their natural ingredients such as fruit.
Kellogg’s Real Fruit Winders, launched at the beginning of 2001, have already been joined by a number of similar products. Nestlé Rowntree’s Fruit Sqoosh is part of a new range from the company which broadens the Rowntree brand name into dairy with fromage frais, yoghurts and a drinking yoghurt. Fruit Sqoosh are “stretchy” fruit rolls aimed at children and teenagers.
Intended for older children, the new Organix raspberry & apple bar from Organix Brands is a low-sugar, organic alternative to traditional cereal bars. Its wrapper is decorated with images of fresh fruit to highlight its natural content.
Also playing the fruit card is Cadbury Trebor Bassett, whose new strawberry edition of Cadbury’s chocolate Buttons is flavoured with real fruit. This claim is made prominently on the bag in an attempt to reassure parents increasingly uneasy about food additives.
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By GlobalDataOf course, adults are not just being targeted as parents, but also as confectionery consumers in their own right. The latest flavour of Halls Soothers throat sweets from Adams, peach & raspberry, is promoted as containing more fruit juice than the other varieties in the range.
Dunhills Haribo is also aiming at adults with its new Peaches. The fat-free sweets are shaped like peach segments and intended for the health-conscious. But fat or no fat, the product still contains sugar. This seems to be the point about confectionery; however many healthy trends emerge, the core indulgence market remains.
Alcoholic beverages: premium, exotic and trendy
Summer has traditionally spawned a host of new alcoholic drinks to suit the season of parties and barbecues. This year the range of liquid refreshments available is broader than ever and includes some interesting new flavours and ideas. A selection follows from those tracked on the Worldwide Innovations Network.
New from UDV, which pioneered the PPS (premium packaged spirit) category with the Smirnoff Mule brand, is Archers Aqua, a four-strong range of pre-mixed based on Archers Peach Schnapps. The orange, cranberry, lime and peach varieties are presented in party-friendly 275ml bottles and aimed at young women.
The Bacardi Breezer range welcomes a new variety in the shape of cranberry, also presented in a long-necked 275ml bottle. The rum-based drinks are targeted principally at young women and contain 5% alcohol.
Federation Brewery’s Vodka Venom range of pre-mixes has also been extended with cranberry and blueberry varieties. Marketed as a fun alternative to beer, the drinks are aimed at young adults and, in keeping with the prevailing category trend, sold in 275ml bottles.
Beverage Brands has added Original Vodka Blue to its WKD pre-mix range. It contains 5.5% alcohol, is aimed at men and comes in a distinctive blue bottle with an extra-long neck.
Maxxium UK launches Veba, a pre-mix based on Vladivar vodka. The drink features a sweet & sour cherry flavour and is presented in a single-serve bottle retailing at £1.29.
Odyssey is a new range of cocktails based on vodka, white wine and fruit juice. KWL Wines & Spirits markets the forest fruit and exotic fruit drinks in 275ml bottles.
For those determined to drink enough to warrant a hangover, Nutritek of South Africa have launched SOBA in the UK. The powdered drink is formulated with zeolite, a volcanic mineral which absorbs alcohol from the bloodstream. Meanwhile, the vitamins and fructose in the drink help restore the body’s balance.
And for the teetotal party animals among us there is Scottish Courage’s new Red Snapper energy drink. Marketed with a provocative slogan which promises “more bite than bull” (a sideswipe at market leader Red Bull), the drink contains more caffeine and taurine than its famous Austrian competitor and is sold in a 150ml can, smaller than the category norm of 250ml.
Current innovations point to future trends
“The tracking capability of WIN allows us to draw meaningful classifications and analysis of innovation trends. The category analysis for confectionery and alcohol alone shows how relevant the health and premium trends still are. Looking at current innovations for food and drink makes it easier to pinpoint future trends. The feedback from executives using WIN has highlighted that it is being used to identify and implement new strategies for product portfolios in order to succeed in the very competitive and sometimes confusing world of NPD,” says Rocio Pajuelo, Global innovations manager.
For more information about these and other innovative products, visit Datamonitor’s Worldwide Innovations Network at http://win.datamonitor.com or contact us at win@datamonitor.com