New year diet season? Pah. Kellogg’s has taken a different tack, launching Krave a chocolate-filled cereal aimed at young adults.

The manufacturer says Krave (rsp: £2.49 per 375g pack), which is rolling out into Tesco now, is the first cereal to directly target 16 to 25-year-olds. It predicts £7m in first-year sales for the new brand, which will be marketed at music festivals and universities throughout the year.

The chocolate hazelnut-filled cereal shells would tap into the “key decision drivers for that consumer group taste and enjoyment”, claimed Kellogg’s. A 300g portion contains 132 calories and 5g of fat, which equates to 17% fat content.

“This product is marketed strictly at young adults and there will be absolutely no focus on health or the nutritional value of eating breakfast,” says sales director Mike Taylor. “The marketing will focus purely on great taste and enjoyment similar to that with Crunchy Nut but to a more defined audience.”

A £4m ad campaign, including TV, will go live in March when it hopes to have achieved listings across other multiples.

Kellogg’s also revealed it had reviewed its Coco Pops brand and was phasing out Straws and Creations. “They didn’t get the uptake we anticipated so we’re coming out of them,” said marketing director Kevin Brennan. “There has been a lot of innovation around Coco Pops in the past few years but we need to become more focused.”

Sales of the Coco Pops range slipped 2% to £61m last year, but its Rocks sub-brand almost doubled sales to £8m [IRI 52w/e 7 November 2009].