P18451.01 Updated Pukpip Renders 3Qtrs Milk Choc

Source: Pukpip

Ecuadorian ingredients supplier Semvra has unveiled frozen snacking brand Pukpip, comprising wonky bananas dipped in chocolate.

The initial two variants, Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate (rsp: £3.99/3x70g), were “the first product of their type to come to UK retail”, Pukpip claimed. They marked the new brand’s “mission to help consumers eat more fruit in fun, delicious and convenient ways”, it added. They would tap “the rise of permissible but indulgent frozen snacking”.

Both handheld options – soon to be joined by White Chocolate – are made with Ecuadorian bananas rejected from export due to minor imperfections.

They are modelled on Pukpip’s US sister brand Diana’s, which styles itself as “the world’s best chocolate-dipped frozen banana”.

Providing between 152kcals and 161kcals per lolly, the UK version was “aimed squarely at the millennial female, with or without children”, Pukpip added. “The combination of smooth chocolate and creamy ripe frozen banana is a match made in heaven.”

Available now from CLF and Consort Frozen Foods for independent retailers, the new brand offered “more opportunities to stock healthier, HFSS-compliant options for consumers, which still prioritise taste”, said Pukpip MD Zara Gugen.

“We want to give consumers the best of both worlds: an easy way to enjoy more fruit and indulge in a permissible chocolate treat, enabling them to feel good about their choices,” she added.

It comes after handheld ice cream’s value grew 7.1% (£54.3m) in grocery last year, excluding discounters [NielsenIQ w/e 10 September 2022]. However, volume sales fell 5.3%.