Cadbury is investing millions of pounds into rolling out The Natural Confec­tionery Company brand nationwide, allaying speculation it was considering dropping the healthier sweets range.

The brand, which was bought from an Australian company in 1999 and launched in the UK last June, achieved sales of £1.5m in its first six months [Nielsen], despite only a limited distribution through impulse channels.

Cadbury is now planning a major roll-out and will kick off a multimillion-pound marketing campaign from early summer. The activity is likely to focus on driving interest of healthier, natural sweets with mums.

"Cadbury sees a big growth opportunity for TNCC in the UK due to its philosophy of simple, naturally coloured and flavoured sweets," said a spokesman.

Press reports last week said Cadbury was considering the brand's future after it had failed to make an impact. But Cadbury said it was one of five key global brands identified last year that it was committed to investing in. "We gave it a deliberately small launch within independents to see how the brand would sit in the UK market," added the spokesman. "Consequently, any suggestion that we would be withdrawing this brand is entirely inaccurate."

Cadbury also revealed this week that it was launching its Green & Blacks premium organic chocolate brand into the US. Although some G&B products are available through third-party suppliers, Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer said the move marked the brand's first proper foray into the market.

Stitzer also said the follow-up to 2007's Gorilla ad campaign would break imminently. Details are under wraps, but Cadbury said it hoped to replicate the success of the eight-week ad campaign, during which sales of Dairy Milk grew 5%.

Stitzer admitted during the company's results presentation this week that he had not been a fan of the ad. "I was sceptical about the Gorilla ad when I saw it," he said. "I wasn't sure whether it would be effective on a branding basis. Shows how much I know."