As February draws to a close, Nestlé launches recyclable breakfast cereal boxes, Unilever and Ferrero bring Kinder ice cream to the UK, and a Welsh bakery champions historical legends in a range of packaged breads. FoodNavigator brings you the latest new product development trends in Europe.
As February draws to a close, Nestlé launches recyclable breakfast cereal boxes, Unilever and Ferrero bring Kinder ice cream to the UK, and a Welsh bakery champions historical legends in a range of packaged breads. FoodNavigator brings you the latest new product development trends in Europe.
Nestlé Cereals has launched a new range of six recyclable Box Bowls in the UK.
Box Bowls come in six single-portions that can be opened, filled with milk, and eaten on ‘on the go’. Nestlé Cereals brands in the range include Shredded Wheat, Bite Size, Original Shreddies, Frosted Shreddies, Multigrain Cheerios, Honey Cheerios and Nesquick.
All elements of the box bowl are recyclable, including an inner bag designed to hold in moisture, a cube-like outer carton, and over-wrap film.
According to the food giant, the range responds to consumer demand for ‘versatile breakfast options’ to be eaten both at home and on the move.
“Consumer research tells us that Brits want more variety and convenience at the breakfast table. Our new ‘Box Bowls’ provide a tasty breakfast choice for almost every day of the week, pre-portioned and ready to eat straight from the box,” said Nestlé Cereals’ marketing director UK & Australia, Toby Baker.
“Box Bowls have also been designed to fit around ever busier lifestyles – they can be enjoyed at home, or while out and about.”
A pack of six has a RRP of £1.99 (€2.29) and is available in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco in the coming weeks.
Following a launch in Europe last year, Kinder and Kinder Bueno ice cream is entering the UK market.
The new product launch, which marks a first-time collaboration between Unilever and Ferrero, covers two ice cream ranges: Kinder Ice Cream Stick, Kinder Ice Cream Sandwich and Kinder Joy Ice Cream for kids; and Kinder Bueno Ice Cream Cone aimed at adults.
Each of the products marketed to children contain 100 calories or less, in small portion sizes.
“This is an extremely exciting time for ice cream, with the category growing by almost 20% year-on-year,” said Noel Clarke, Unilever UK’s vice president for refreshment. “Now that the countdown to summer is officially on, we can’t wait to launch Kinder and Kinder Bueno Ice Creams to satisfy shoppers that are always on the hunt for new and exciting products to try.
“Kids’ ice cream has been a missed opportunity up until now, with little in the way of ground-breaking innovation – even though the segment is growing ahead of the total category. Well, we’re about to change that by bringing kids not one, but three Kinder Ice Creams to fall in love with.”
Family-run Welsh bakery, Brace’s, has launched a range of premium breads to celebrate Welsh culture and heros.
The ‘Welsh Legends’ range champions ‘on-trend’ ingredients, such as quinoa, linseed, rye, barley, buckwheat, spelt and millet.
“Bloomer bread and sourdough are enjoying a resurgence as more and more customers are open to trying something new,” said director Jonathan Brace. “So, we have had to make sure we stayed on top of flavour trends while developing our latest range.”
The title given to each loaf in the range relates to Welsh culture in some way. ‘Môltid’, for example, which means ‘malted’ in Welsh, is a brown loaf with flakes of malted wheat.
‘Vortigern’ refers to a fifth century Lord who is said to have discovered the iconic red dragon present on the Welsh flag. The bread is a bloomer loaf made on a wholemeal base with wheat flakes, linseed, soya flakes, rye, corn pieces and barley, with added sourdough and cracked wheat.
“We really enjoyed giving each of these new products their own personalities,” said Brace. “As a bakery that is proud to be from Wales, we feel it is important to reflect who we are in what we produce.”
A 400g loaf is priced between 99p (€1.14) and £1.50, and 800g has a RRP of between £1.50 and £1.99.
Young’s Seafood has redesigned its frozen Gastro range, including its Tempura Battered Chunky Cod and Tempura Battered Crispy Lemon Herb Basa Fillets offerings.
According the UK firm, the packaging provides a more ‘contemporary look’ that appeals to younger, foodie audiences.
The redesign is part of Young’s Seafood plan to grow business from £66m (€76m) to £100m.
“When Gastro was a £20m business, we set steep targets to triple its size over three years,” said marketing director Yvonne Adam. Now at £66m, our vision is to grow the number one premium seafood brand to £100m and we’re confident this revamp will be a building block that makes our products unmissable in store.”
Color Foods has announced plans to sell a new range of dried fruits under its ‘La Favorite’ brand.
The French company will launch three ranges next month. These include ‘clean label’ natural, dried fruit products – apricots, figs and dates – which contain no preservatives, additives, or added sugar.
The company imports its fruit from Northern Africa and Turkey, where dates, figs and apricots are picked when ripe, before being sundried.
According to Color Foods, La Favorite ranges will be sold in environmentally-conscious packaging.
“There are ways for the food industry to reduce the amount of plastic being used in packaging without losing their functionality,” said Color Foods’ head of R&D, Marie Estorges.
“We are closely following the industry to make sure we adapt our packaging when possible, while ensuring it doesn’t compromise the quality of the product.”
French supermarket Intermarché has announced a new range of prepared meals proudly void of additives, preservatives, colouring and flavours.
The l’Essential d’Intermarché range are made in France. Five products have launched this month, with two expected to reach fresh and frozen food aisles in April 2019.
The range includes chicken breast with vegetables and three types of rice, filet mignon with autumnal vegetables, and a salmon dish with white rice and vegetables.
The take-home meals range from €2.50 to €3.80 and boast Nutri-Score ratings of A or B.
