Oat-based Cheerios for people who don't like the taste or texture of porridge; sugar-free baking mixes made with wood-derived xylitol and premium sea salt with seaweed feature in this week's snapshot of new product launches across Europe.
Oat-based Cheerios for people who don't like the taste or texture of porridge; sugar-free baking mixes made with wood-derived xylitol and premium sea salt with seaweed feature in this week's snapshot of new product launches across Europe.
Nestlé UK has launched Oat Cheerios as an alternative to porridge.
The company says that, according to a 2018 survey of over 400 adults, 97% of British consumers believe oats are a healthy option at breakfast, but more than one in five don’t like porridge.
The Oat Cheerios cereal is made with British-grown whole-grain oats that are further enriched with vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin D, vitamin C and folic acid.
Toby Baker, marketing director for Nestlé Cereals UK and Australia, said: “Oats are increasingly becoming a popular addition to Brits’ diets, as we’ve seen with the rise in sales of things like oat milk, but so many consumers we’ve spoken to just don’t like porridge.
“We’ve made Oat Cheerios to cater to those who want to enjoy the benefits of oats without having to eat porridge. It’s also a perfect breakfast choice in both winter and summer, tasting great with either hot or cold milk.”
The product launched in select stores in November and will be rolled out across the UK in January.
Russian’s biggest milk producer, Ekosem-Agrar AG, has launched an umbrella brand EkoNiva for the Russian retail market.
The product portfolio will include fresh milk, kefir, sour cream, curd, butter, yoghurt and semi-hard cheese under a brand slogan ‘EkoNiva - milk we are proud of’.
Launched in a few select stores in Moscow, the manufacturer plans to roll out to major supermarket chains across the country “in the coming months”.
Ekosem-Agrar AG, Walldorf, Germany, is the German holding company of Ekoniva Group, one of the largest Russian agricultural companies.
CEO and main shareholder Stefan Dürr said: “Setting up our own milk processing facilities is the logical next step in our growth strategy. This enables us to guarantee the quality of our products across the entire supply chain, respond more flexibly to price fluctuations in the milk market and tap additional revenue and earnings sources.
“Our new brand will write a new chapter in the history of EkoNiva and will hopefully convince Russian customers of the high quality of our products ‘Made in Russia with German quality assurance’.”
UK company Healthy by Nature has launched a range of sugar-free cake and muffin mixes sweetened with xylitol.
The range contains four sugar-free products: chocolate muffin mix, chocolate sponge mix, plain muffin mix and plain sponge mix.
The company, which also owns the brand Total Sweet Xylitol, a table-top sweetener made from European birch and beech wood, said it spent twelve months developing the range.
Daniel Reeds, managing director of the company said: “Whilst the home baking category is worth over £700 million (€755m) it’s growth has more or less ground to a halt in recent years. Two of the main reasons cited for this are ‘shoppers looking to eat healthier’ and ‘not having time to bake anymore’.
“With sugar being ‘enemy number one’ when it comes to consumer health, it makes perfect sense to launch a range of sugar free mixes, which address both these concerns and transfer some of the strong growth that the free from sector is enjoying into the home baking category.”
The mixes have a retail price of between £3.50 (€3.95) and £4 (€4.50).
According to the company, xylitol can also be called 'birch sugar'.
German salt manufacturer Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke plans to launch a seaweed and coarse sea salt mill in 2019 under its Aquasale brand.
Made with organic brown wakame seaweed, the manufacturer said the product is on-trend and ideal for organic shoppers and those who enjoy cooking.
Free from flavour enhancers and additives, it is suitable for vegans.
A 75 g mill has a recommended retail price of €2.99.
Carte Noir has launched an organic range of coffee in France with seven products.
Certified organic and UTZ fairtrade, the range includes whole beans and capsules.
“The organic coffee beans reveal subtle hints of cereal and caramel, while the organic coffee in pods or capsules will be more fruity and floral with a touch of acidity,” the company said.
The products have a recommended retail price ranging from €7.95 for 500 g pack to €4.29 for 32 capsules.
Based in the south of France, Carte Noire was bought by the Lavazza group in 2016.
