Media release archive

Impressive new products and promotions from UB offer a promising start to the New Year for retailers

Date: 05-12-2011

 

United Biscuits (UBUK), has announced the launch of its main activity for the beginning of next year. The range of new products, exciting on-pack promotions and TV campaigns to grow sales for retailers in 2012.

BAGGED SNACKS

UB strikes a chord with ‘Snack Tracks’ promotion

Building on the success of its 2011 Merlin Happy Days cross brand promotion, UB has linked with Universal Music to launch its new ‘Snack Tracks’ promotion in February next year. Running across 30 million handypacks and grab bags of the Hula Hoops, Mini Cheddars, NikNaks, Skips, Discos and Wheat Crunchies brands, consumers will be able to enter a code online to download one of over 100,000 free music tracks. A free music track is available with every pack purchase.

KP mixes it up Jumbo style

The No.1 nuts brand, KP, will be mixing it up with the launch of two new additions to its very successful Jumbo Nuts range.  The two variants, Jumbo Salted Nut Mix, which is a mix of roasted Jumbo Peanuts, Almonds and Cashews and the Jumbo Fruit & Nut Mix, which comprises of an unsalted mix of Jumbo Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews, Cranberries and Golden Raisins, will be available from March next year. They are in a 90g pouch format and both will have an MRRP £2.40.

Saucy Twiglets are here to stay!

Due to popular demand, UB is pleased to announce that Twiglets Tangy Worcester Sauce variant is back for 2012 and is here to stay. Benefiting from a massive following on social media and consumer campaigns demanding its return, the saucy variant will be available for retailers to stock at the beginning of January, it comes in a 150g sharing bag format with an MRRP of £2.78.

BISCUITS

Quirky campaign from the  McVitie’s range

McVitie’s Quirks will be hitting both the small and big screens early in 2012 with its new advertising campaign. Airing first on cinema screens from 1st January and then on TV for five weeks from 6th February, the 30 second animated commercial shows a McVitie’s Quirks biscuit with confidence issues. The biscuit tries to ignore various sweet treats telling it that it’s not that particularly unique only to fall down some stairs and break into two pieces, revealing that it’s ‘special on the inside’ with its chocolatey centre. The £2m campaign will help to grow consumer awareness and maximise sales for retailers.

Medley doubles up the chocolate

To drive further growth into the category from the start of the year and boost sales for retailers, UB is launching a new indulgent variant to the McVitie’s Medley portfolio.  The new McVitie’s Double Chocolate variant includes a mix of HobNobs biscuits chunks combined with cereals, dark chocolate chips and milk chocolate underneath. The new variant will be available from January with an MRRP of 55p for a 40g bar and £1.95 for a multipack format containing six 30g bars.

Chocs ahoy for retailers in 2012

To capitalise on the popularity of chocolate biscuits bars and widen the appeal through new flavours, UB is introducing two new variants for its popular brands, Jacob’s Club and McVitie’s Penguin. From February, a new Honeycomb flavour variant is being added to the Jacob’s Club range and will be available to buy in a pack of eight with an MRRP of £2.03.  Also in February, McVitie’s Toffee Penguin bar with toffee flavoured chocolate cream will be launched in a nine pack multipack format with an MRRP of £2.03.

CAKES

Let them eat cake

McVitie’s Cake Company (MCC), is introducing a new range of cakes to change consumption habits and drive innovation into the cake category. Consumers are increasingly looking for mini versions of original favourites as a tasty treat and to respond to this growing demand, MCC is launching Jamaica Ginger Cake Bars at the end of December to encourage new chocolate fans into trialling the popular brand.  Available in packs of five with an MRRP of £1.65, Jamaica Ginger Cake Bars give consumers the chance to enjoy the classic Jamaica Ginger sponge flavour topped with chocolate cream and fully covered in smooth chocolate. 

For purists that want to enjoy their favourite Jamaica Ginger Cake on the go or in a single serve portion and to allow retailers to further capitalise on the trend for mini treats, MCC is also launching its new Mini Loaves range including Jamaica Ginger and Lyle’s Golden Syrup variants.  The new Mini Loaves will be available for retailers to buy in packs of four from mid-February with an MRRP of £1.65.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles

MCC is extending its slices range to generate big sales for retailers in 2012.  Following on from the launch of its popular Twix Caramel Slices, the biggest NPD launch of 2011 in the cake category, MCC has now teamed up with the luxurious chocolate brand, Galaxy, to extend its slices range to include Galaxy Cookie Crumble Slices. 

Comprising of a crumbly cookie base and a generous layer of Galaxy milk chocolate, the new Galaxy Cookie Crumble Slices will benefit from the positive association with the Galaxy brand and its heavyweight consumer activity to build awareness of the range and help drive sales for retailers.  The new Galaxy Cookie Crumble Slices will be available from mid-February. They are in packs of six with an MRRP of £1.65.

To keep the McVitie’s Galaxy range consistent with the confectionery design and boost the indulgent nature of the product, MCC is also updating the Galaxy and Galaxy Caramel Cake Bar pack designs giving a uniform, updated look across the range and to improve its on shelf stand out.

Inexpensive treats categories continue to grow

Jon Eggleton, Marketing Director, UBUK, commented: “The fact that the categories are still in growth at these difficult times is because consumers are choosing to spend their money on little luxuries such as bagged snacks, cakes and biscuits.

“UB is ensuring that the activity across all of its brands for the beginning of 2012 is what retailers need to drive sales. Whether it’s an engaging cross-brand ‘Snacks Tracks’ consumer promotion, a McVitie’s Quirks TV campaign or a tasty new cake range from McVitie’s, we have the right products and promotions to help to drive strong sales for retailers in 2012.”