New, Renamed, Relaunched and Removed

[Pondgirl]

For the kids' lunchboxes, Mr Kipling's new range of flapjack-style wrapped cake bars. Called Oatibakes they come in caramel, strawberry and blackcurrant flavours and are made from oats and golden syrup soaked sponge, with a soft layer of jam through the middle.

Are adults banned from buying them?

it was only "essence of cashmere goat hair"

Why????

[RockitRon]

Very good questions, both.

If you listen to the clip from the BBC programme, there's expert doubt that you can actually extract essence of goat hair. Would be unusual of Waitrose to be telling us porkies, though.

[RockitRon]

Those Finish dishwasher dispenser things are half price (£5) at Asda at the moment. If you've been sent a £3-off voucher and use that at the same time it makes them just about worth it.

[RockitRon]

** Bounce tumble-dryer sheets have been renamed Lenor.

** Making a Malteas(t)er bar in the vague shape of a rabbit has earned Nestlé the award for Product of the Year 2010 for Innovation, in a survey of over 10,000 consumers by TNS, the global market research and business analysis organisation.

** Waitrose is opening a chain of 11 small stores at motorway service areas, and is linking up with Shell to put some of its products into petrol station forecourt shops.

** Morrisons is ending its "Price Crunch" advertising slogan, and will instead adopt different themes according to season, starting with the World Cup in June.

** Iceland is also changing its advertising, and is looking for a new "face". Jason and the loose Nolan woman have gone the way of Kerry Katona - they're looking for one of us regular folk. After all the good luck the gig brought Katona, entrants will doubtless be queuing up.

** After all these years Mr Kipling reveals that there is a Mrs K in the wings - she is part of a £3m advertising spree for Oatibakes, starting on March 5th.

** The British have fallen out of love with French wine, which has slipped to fifth place, behind Australia, the US, Italy and South Africa, in terms of sales by value. The main reason given for this is not necessarily the taste, but the fact that there is no co-ordinated marketing organisation, therefore very little advertising or promotion, of it.

** Having bought the UK licence for and then ditched Campbell's Condensed Soups, Premier Foods is relaunching the Batchelors ones, repackaged as a "soup or sauce" product, to attract younger consumers. They are also pushing the soups' value and health credentials with a prominent "makes double" flash and a reduced salt recipe.

** New - McCain Sweet Potato Oven Chips. Together with Wedgies and Smilies they're going to spend £7m advertising and promoting them. Next month they are also launching, in time for the World Cup, Footballs - frozen mashed potato balls, which score three green traffic lights on the FSA labelling scheme, and are targeted at older children who might baulk at being seen eating Smilies.

** Warburtons, the bakers, are moving into bagged snacks, with the launch on 15th March of ChippidyDooDaaa pitta chips (in four flavours, incl Chilli Jack and Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar) and SnackaDoodle hi-fibre wholegrain snacks (Sweet Chilli and Cheddar Cheese & Onion). Claimed to have 60% less fat than a standard crisp and be healthier than both those and tortilla chips.

** It didn't take them long. Kraft is launching more of its Milka small chocolate wafer bar countlines and, according to Marketing Week, is planning a full national launch in April of its Alpine Milk bars, in direct competition with Cadbury's Dairy Milk.

** Tango soft drinks are available in limited edition cans which reveal a message when chilled in the fridge: "Tango makes your ******* shrivel" etc.

** Another favourite of this column, Rachel's Organic Dairies is launching what it claims is the UK's first mainstream pouring yoghurt. Three flavours - natural, natural with a hint of honey, and natural with a hint of strawberry, it comes in a 400g pot with a spout, has an rrp of £1.19, and should be available in Tesco now, Morrisons and Waitrose to follow. It's being pitched as the ideal alternative to milk for use on cereal or muesli, or as an accompaniment to fruit salads or desserts.

** Paddington Bear has lost his taste for Marmite and returned to marmalade as the new face of Robertson's Golden Shred (and Hartley's No-Bits Jams, and Gales Honey). He will also appear on a new squeezy Robertson's Golden Smooth Marmalade range which is launched this week, including new Orange & Honey and Lemon & Honey varieties. And yes, you'll be able to collect tokens off the packs for a Paddington Bear badge.

** Finally, for all the rum drinkers out there who like it spicy, iconic American brand Sailor Jerry has been relaunched in the UK, and into all the supermarkets, with a new recipe, making the taste less sweet and allowing the vanilla and natural spices to come through, a slightly reduced alcohol content of 40%, and the retro 40s-style trademark hula girl centre stage on the bottle -

[Delboy]

Making a Malteas(t)er bar in the vague shape of a rabbit has earned Nestlé the award for Product of the Year 2010 for Innovation

How does that work? We're only at the beginning of March 2010. There will be thousands more new products before the year ends.

[Agent Sizzle]

Warburtons, the bakers, are moving into bagged snacks, with the launch on 15th March of ChippidyDooDaaa pitta chips (in four flavours, incl Chilli Jack and Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar) and SnackaDoodle hi-fibre wholegrain snacks (Sweet Chilli and Cheddar Cheese & Onion). Claimed to have 60% less fat than a standard crisp and be healthier than both those and tortilla chips.

I can't ever imagine buying something called ChippidyDooDaa or SnackaDoodle, no matter what it tasted like. It's too insulting for words.

It didn't take them long. Kraft is launching more of its Milka small chocolate wafer bar countlines and, according to Marketing Week, is planning a full national launch in April of its Alpine Milk bars, in direct competition with Cadbury's Dairy Milk.

Do they mean the Milka in the purple packaging with the Milka cow on it?

[RockitRon]

Making a Malteas(t)er bar in the vague shape of a rabbit has earned Nestlé the award for Product of the Year 2010 for Innovation

How does that work? We're only at the beginning of March 2010. There will be thousands more new products before the year ends.

I know, del. It's daft. It's like magazines that are dated two months ahead of when you buy them. They probably think that if they waited until the end of the year people would think of it as last year's product. Using "Product of the Year 2010" in their advertising now looks better than it will in 2011.

[RockitRon]

Warburtons, the bakers, are moving into bagged snacks, with the launch on 15th March of ChippidyDooDaaa pitta chips (in four flavours, incl Chilli Jack and Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar) and SnackaDoodle hi-fibre wholegrain snacks (Sweet Chilli and Cheddar Cheese & Onion). Claimed to have 60% less fat than a standard crisp and be healthier than both those and tortilla chips.

I can't ever imagine buying something called ChippidyDooDaa or SnackaDoodle, no matter what it tasted like. It's too insulting for words.

Me neither They should be launching it on April 1st.

It didn't take them long. Kraft is launching more of its Milka small chocolate wafer bar countlines and, according to Marketing Week, is planning a full national launch in April of its Alpine Milk bars, in direct competition with Cadbury's Dairy Milk.

Do they mean the Milka in the purple packaging with the Milka cow on it?

They do


I believe the solid chocolate bar is quite widely available in the 100g size, but the larger 200g and 400g aren't at present.

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, whey powder, milk fat, hazelnut paste, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavouring (vanillin)
Cocoa solids: minimum 30%. Milk solids: minimum 18%
CONTAINS MILK, HAZELNUTS, SOYA, MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF OTHER NUTS AND WHEAT

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Ingredients: Full Cream Milk, Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Milk Solids, Vegetable Fat, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, 476), Flavours. May contain traces of Nuts. Milk Chocolate contains Cocoa Solids 21%, Milk Solids 28%

Just looking at that, they aren't that similar.

[Agent Sizzle]

God help Mr Agent - he loves Milka (officially Germany's favourite chocolate) but since he's left here, he hasn't been able to get hold of it so easily. Now he'll have a ready supply in the UK too.

[RockitRon]

It may not feel like it yet, and the snowdrops and crocuses have only just come out here, but Spring is definitely in the air and in the minds of those who like to encourage us to spend.

** The first of the new season British asparagus and Jersey Royal potatoes have reached the shops. There's now an unseemly Beaujolais Nouveau type race to be the first to achieve the dubious honour, and Tesco won on both counts, and much earlier than last year, despite the weather. Of course they're not available nationally yet.

** A new type of garlic has been introduced, which offers comfort to everyone who loves the pungent flavour but not the bad breath afterwards. Black garlic, which is produced by fermenting a standard bulb in a high temperature for a month, has gone on sale in Selfridges. At £5.49 for two bulbs it does not come cheap, but it is said to provide all the flavour and none of the odour.

** Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal have been signed up by Waitrose to front a new advertising campaign. They will appear together in a different television commercial each week, presented as a mini cookery show, and sometimes lasting the full length of an ad-break.

** Kelloggs has withdrawn its Nature's Pleasure premium muesli, due to poor sales, just 12 months after launching and spending £3m on it.

** Heinz sold 57 million cans of tomato soup in January.

** Birds Eye has sued McDougall's for putting "Better than Birds Eye" on their packs of Upper Crust frozen chicken pies, claiming that it's "misleading, disparaging and an infringement of trademark". They've won, and the offending boxes must be removed by April 12th.

** Innocent has introduced a smaller, 500ml size for some of its smoothies, conveniently priced at £1

** Coca Cola has replaced Gerber as the UK distributor of Ocean Spray cranberry (etc) juices. It has redesigned the packs, to give them a "premium look", added blueberry juice to the range, and will spend £7m on advertising over spring and summer, with the strap line "Good Taste from a Good Place".

** Blueberries must be plentiful. Smirnoff has added them to its range of flavoured vodkas, joining Green Apple and Lime, launched last year.

** Ice cream manufacturers have detected a move by shoppers away from the traditional large family tubs to individual handheld chocolate ice creams, so there is a raft of new treats-on-a-stick in the freezer:- Magnum Gold, Cornetto Enigma, Snickers Dark Crunch, Galaxy Triple Chocolate and Aero Double Bubble.

** The first fruit of the Marmarati website focus group is Marmite XO (Extra Old) - matured four times longer than the standard Marmite, for a thicker texture and stronger flavour. Blimey. Someone has just claimed they've seen the face of Jesus on the lid of the standard stuff - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8071865.stm Who knows who might turn up in a jar of XO.; anyway, if you want it Tesco, Waitrose, Morrison and Selfridges have it now.

** Blossom Hill, which is the UK's best-selling brand of wines, has re-introduced its best-selling bottle of 2005/6, Californian Pinot Grigio, at £5.99 a bottle. Growing and supply difficulties meant that it has been missing for a couple of years, and afficianados have had to make do with Italian.

** Wilkinson Sword has launched an Xtreme 3 Beauty Coconut Dream female razor, with a scented handle and a Scratch 'n' Sniff panel, to appeal to teens.

** Finally, Mohammed el Fayed rang to complain that I never mention Harrods here. He'd like everyone to know that the new release of Louis XIII Rare Cask 43.8 Remy Martin cognac is now in store. A bargain at £11,250 for a 70cl bottle (and box)

[Delboy]

Wilkinson Sword has launched an Xtreme 3 Beauty Coconut Dream female razor, with a scented handle

Are women really that sad?

A bargain at £11,250 for a 70cl bottle

Makes me extra glad that I'm teetotal. Are there really idiots who would pay that?

[RockitRon]

** The recession, the pound's slump against the euro, and heavy discounting by supermarkets in the UK have brought to an end the heyday of the booze cruise across the Channel, and Oddbins in Calais for one has raised the white flag and shut up shop.

** Returning "by popular demand" in time for St Patrick's Day, a limited edition silver bottle for Jameson Irish whiskey. It was advertised outside our local Asda this week but is apparently only available through off-licences, where they will no doubt be able to charge closer to the £17.56 rrp (the old dark bottle is just a tenner within WalMart's British den of iniquity).

** Californian wine brand E&J Gallo has launched its Barefoot range into Tesco. Proclaiming 2010 as "the year of the foot" its aim is to usurp Blossom Hill as the No 1 selling brand. Its Pinot Grigio and Merlot join the long running White Zinfandel on the shelves, at £5.99 a bottle.

** As if it needed it, G&T is to get £4m worth of advertising and promotion with a joint marketing push by Diageo (Gordon's) and Coca Cola (Schweppes Tonic) under the strapline "Together for a British Summer".

** A slightly less obvious collaboration is announced between Pork Farms, Branston and Pepperami to jazz-up sausage rolls and pork pies. The Branston Pickle pork pie imaginatively features a layer of pickle on the pie lid, and there are three variations on the sausage roll theme - Spicy Hit with Pepperami, Cheese Pickle Hit and plain sausagemeat Hit.

** Amazing what a little sun can do. The daffs aren't out yet (here, anyway) but the year's first British strawberries are going into 46 Waitrose stores on Thursday, with more anticipated next week.

** Soreen is using a £6m cash injection from Barclays Bank to give itself a "modern and energy food image" and invest in a hi-tech super-bakery. It will be relaunching its sticky malt loaf with a new "Chew It Then Do It" marketing campaign next month.

** Remember Pontefract Cakes and Mint Imperials? Wilkinson's of Pontefract have dusted off the original recipes and relaunched the confections, "made with all natural colours and flavours" in 190g bags.

** I Can't Believe It's Not Butter has been reformulated to give it a more buttery taste. Considering it contains just 5% buttermilk whatever it tastes of ain't butter.

** Alpro has launched an unsweetened soya milk which is suitable for cooking and hot drinks, as it does not curdle like regular soya. In all the big stores except Asda now.

** Finally, the return of milk in a plastic bag. I remember buying it this way on holiday in Scotland in the 1960s, but Dairy Crest and Sainsbury's are proclaiming their Jug-It plastic jug and recyclable sachets as a new idea which reduces packaging by 75%.

[Agent Sizzle]

"Alpro has launched an unsweetened soya milk which is suitable for cooking and hot drinks, as it does not curdle like regular soya. In all the big stores except Asda now."

I thought this existed already? I use soya milk (also by Alpro) and can't stand the sweetened stuff so always get unsweetened, to use on cereal or for hot drinks. Maybe this is a special version for cooking?


"Soreen is using a £6m cash injection from Barclays Bank to give itself a "modern and energy food image" and invest in a hi-tech super-bakery. It will be relaunching its sticky malt loaf with a new "Chew It Then Do It" marketing campaign next month."


Mmmm... I like their sticky malt loaves... there's an unopened one sitting in my cupboard I brought back from the last UK visit.
Chew it and do what exactly, though??

[RockitRon]

"Alpro has launched an unsweetened soya milk which is suitable for cooking and hot drinks, as it does not curdle like regular soya. In all the big stores except Asda now."

I thought this existed already? I use soya milk (also by Alpro) and can't stand the sweetened stuff so always get unsweetened, to use on cereal or for hot drinks. Maybe this is a special version for cooking?

It is, Sizz. Could be quite confusing, because the packs look very similar. It's this one...

It has acidity regulators in the ingredients list:-
Water, Hulled soya beans (6,5%), Acidity regulators (Dipotassium phosphate, Monopotassium phosphate), Calcium carbonate, Maltodextrin, Stabiliser (Gellan gum), Vitamins (Riboflavin, B12, D2)

Quoting the news report:- Alpro has launched an unsweetened fresh soya milk variant as an alternative to milk for cooking, savoury dishes and hot drinks.

The unsweetened version has the same nutritional profile as the Original product but no sugar. It is suitable for hot drinks as it does not curdle like regular soya. "We now have a complete range of fresh variants to meet different consumer needs," said commercial director John Allaway.

The new line has gone into Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons (rsp: £1.28).

"Soreen is using a £6m cash injection from Barclays Bank to give itself a "modern and energy food image" and invest in a hi-tech super-bakery. It will be relaunching its sticky malt loaf with a new "Chew It Then Do It" marketing campaign next month."

Mmmm... I like their sticky malt loaves... there's an unopened one sitting in my cupboard I brought back from the last UK visit.
Chew it and do what exactly, though??

Me too! It certainly wouldn't sit unopened, or even partly used, in my cupboard for long!

[Agent Sizzle]

That's it ... I'm off to open mine now.