Kit Kat Low Carb is the first high-profile confectionery casualty of falling interest in the low-carb market, The Grocer can reveal.
Nestlé Rowntree said it was dropping the line, which it launched alongside Rolo Low Carb in May last year, to concentrate on more indulgent low-carb products. In its place, it is launching a low-carb variant of its premium chocolate brand, Double Chocolate.
Graham Walker, Nestlé Rowntree sales communications manager, said: “Feedback from our low-carb customers is that they are missing out on a real chocolate indulgent treat, which you get with Rolos and even more with Double Chocolate.”
While both low-carb variants of Kit Kat and Rolos performed
“ahead of expectations,” said Walker, Kit Kat Low Carb’s fortunes have fallen in recent months, with consumers and retailers walking away from the product. The Co-operative Group delisted it in February.
Alison Rhodes, head of trading for Woolworths confectionery, said: “Kit Kat Low Carb was extremely popular at its launch. However, dieting is fad-driven. As time has passed, customers are less concerned with low-carb diets.”
Rhodes added that Woolworths had not been planning to renew its order.
The low-carb market received a blow in March, when market leader Atkins Nutritionals pulled out of the UK market.
Kit Kat Low Carb also performed poorly in consumer taste tests. In independent research carried out by Cambridge Fast Foodfax, the product set the lowest score to date in the confectionery category (August 2004).
Nestlé said Double Chocolate would bring better quality low-carb confectionery to consumers and it expected sales to match its Rolo Low Carb line. It is being launched at the end of May in a 38g format (rsp: £1.29).
Kit Kat Low Carb will be withdrawn over the next two months.
Stefan Chomka
Nestlé Rowntree said it was dropping the line, which it launched alongside Rolo Low Carb in May last year, to concentrate on more indulgent low-carb products. In its place, it is launching a low-carb variant of its premium chocolate brand, Double Chocolate.
Graham Walker, Nestlé Rowntree sales communications manager, said: “Feedback from our low-carb customers is that they are missing out on a real chocolate indulgent treat, which you get with Rolos and even more with Double Chocolate.”
While both low-carb variants of Kit Kat and Rolos performed
“ahead of expectations,” said Walker, Kit Kat Low Carb’s fortunes have fallen in recent months, with consumers and retailers walking away from the product. The Co-operative Group delisted it in February.
Alison Rhodes, head of trading for Woolworths confectionery, said: “Kit Kat Low Carb was extremely popular at its launch. However, dieting is fad-driven. As time has passed, customers are less concerned with low-carb diets.”
Rhodes added that Woolworths had not been planning to renew its order.
The low-carb market received a blow in March, when market leader Atkins Nutritionals pulled out of the UK market.
Kit Kat Low Carb also performed poorly in consumer taste tests. In independent research carried out by Cambridge Fast Foodfax, the product set the lowest score to date in the confectionery category (August 2004).
Nestlé said Double Chocolate would bring better quality low-carb confectionery to consumers and it expected sales to match its Rolo Low Carb line. It is being launched at the end of May in a 38g format (rsp: £1.29).
Kit Kat Low Carb will be withdrawn over the next two months.
Stefan Chomka
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