Buyers have welcomed Ferrero’s first foray into the adult biscuit category, but warn that consumers could be confused about the product’s positioning.
Ferrero describes Giotto as an adult biscuit that is the perfect companion to coffee. On shelves from Monday (April 4), it comprises spherical nutty wafer bites with a creamy hazelnut centre and will be available in a five-bite pack (rsp: 35p) and a 40-bite pack (rsp: £1.99).
Catriona Hughes, Giotto product manager, said it would exploit the coffee culture trend as the choice of snack to accompany coffee, either on-the-go or at home.
Giotto has been on the German market since 1996 and was successfully launched last
year in Ireland. Ferrero is confident of similar success in the UK, with sales expected to top £15m in its first year.
While the product is a similar shape and hazelnut flavour to the company’s popular Ferrero Rocher confectionery, the company is positioning it as a standalone biscuit brand.
However, some buyers say this could confuse retailers and consumers about whether it is a biscuit or a confectionery.
Livi Leacock, head buyer at wholesale business Parfetts, said: “Where would the retailer put it? I would advise it would go best on the confectionery counter as the [five-bites pack] is too small to put in with the biscuits.”
Another buyer said: “The product will do well as Ferrero does NPD very well.”
However, he added that the company had failed to exploit the brand value of Ferrero Rocher. “One of our concerns is that the Ferrero branding isn’t prominent enough,” he said.
The launch is being backed by a £3m television advertising campaign from mid-June. A £1m sampling campaign is also being run across outlets, including Coffee Republic.

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Stefan Chomka