An NPD round-up dedicated to chocolate? Yes please. In this edition you’ll read about a Easter-themed chocolate from Lir and Guinness; a new Aero bar flavour; and a white chocolate ice cream mixed in with ‘Scandinavian mountain cranberries’. Yum.
GettyImages/Adam Gault
An NPD round-up dedicated to chocolate? Yes please. In this edition you’ll read about a Easter-themed chocolate from Lir and Guinness; a new Aero bar flavour; and a white chocolate ice cream mixed in with ‘Scandinavian mountain cranberries’. Yum.
GettyImages/Adam Gault
Food and beverage makers in Ireland are also preparing for Easter, with Lir Chocolates releasing new eggs ahead of the holiday. Two are from Baileys Chocolate (a Baileys Salted Caramel Easter Egg and Baileys Strawberries and Cream Easter Egg) and one is from Guinness.
The Guinness-flavoured Ruby Ball Easter Egg comes with a ‘robust’ dark chocolate shell, alongside Guinness chocolate truffles. Each truffle has a dark chocolate shell and is filled with a Guinness-flavoured centre.
For Alison Robson, chocolate marketing manager at Baileys, the new products align with the ‘premiumisation’ trend in the category. “The trend towards premiumisation in the chocolate industry is on the rise across various retail channels, as consumers increasingly seek out enhanced quality and value from their purchases. This is particularly true for those shopping ‘Adult Easter’ gifts with the demand for luxury eggs for adults booming.
“All three of our new Easter eggs as well as the Baileys Chocolate Original Easter Egg, are designed to address this demand by providing adults with a premium Easter egg option from distinguished and creditable brands, all at an affordable price point.”
The two Baileys eggs have an RRP of £8 and are available from Sainsbury’s Asda, Morrisons and Ocado.
Image source: Lir Chocolates
Ethical chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely (born out of a PR stunt gone right) is preparing for Easter with the launch of a Chunky Egg. Made from 180g of chocolate, the new SKU is available in milk and milk caramel salt flavours.
Just like all Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate products, the cocoa is sourced according to the company’s 5 Sourcing Principles, meaning that the cocoa is traceable, Fairtrade-certified, and that the farmers that produced it were paid fairly.
The Chunky Egg products are available in the UK at Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Ocado with an RRP of £10.
For those missing Tony’s innovations from previous Easters, the company is bringing back its ‘egg-stra special’ chocolate eggs and ‘egg-stra special chocolate egg pouches’.
Image source: Tony's Chocolonely
Ice cream company Froneri is rolling out two new ice cream flavours under its Nuii chocolate stick brand. The first flavour – Caramelised Salted Almond & New Zealand Honey – uses Kamahi honey, vanilla ice cream, milk chocolate and salted, caramelised almonds.
The second combines white chocolate with ‘Scandinavian mountain cranberries’. This ice cream flavour is made from mascarpone ice cream, cranberry sauce, and a white chocolate shell.
Nuii’s brand manager Henry Craven said the company is excited to announce these new additions for its 2024 range. “Both flavours bring something exciting and deliciously different to our portfolio. Consumers are looking for an indulgent treat that offers an experience above the everyday. We’ve developed both flavours to deliver the ultimate indulgence and take consumers on a taste adventure.”
A box of three 90ml ice cream sticks has an RRP of £4 in Asda and all major retailers.
Image source: Froneri
Nestlé has been working on R&D in the Aero lab. The result is a new flavour for the ‘light and airy’ chocolate bubble bar: Aero choco-hazelnut.
According to the food major, the new SKU comes from frequent requests by followers of Aero’s social media channels. “We can’t wait to share the heavenly combination of Aero and hazelnut,” commented Aero assistant brand manager Michael Kehoe.
“Aero’s iconic light and airy chocolate bubbles have been loved worldwide for decades, and this new hazelnut flavour takes it to a whole new level. We hope our Aero fans will enjoy the indulgent taste experience of the rich hazelnut flavour whilst feeling the bubbles melt.”
At the same time, Nestlé is bringing a larger 145g sharing bar for its Aero Peppermint bar.
Image source: Nestlé
Despite the wintery weather, more innovation in ice cream is hitting stores. Mondelēz International-owned Cadbury is bringing out two new product developments: a Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Stick and a Crunchie Blast Cone.
The Dairy Milk Caramel Stick is made with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and a twice dipped chocolate coating containing caramel sauce in between the two layers. Since the Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel chocolate bar is one of the company’s most popular, the brand believes the flavour will be a hit amongst its ice cream customers.
The Cadbury Crunchie Blast Cone ice cream is made from honeycomb ice cream, popping candy and chocolate button pieces, topped with chocolate and honeycomb chunks in a wafer cone.
Image source: Cadbury
