McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes taps ‘swicy’ trend with Hot Honey flavour

Pladis has embraced the hot honey buzz with its latest McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes limited-edition flavour.

It has rolled out McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Hot Honey Flavour (rsp: £1.50/PMP: £1.49).

The NPD has hit Asda stores ahead of a wider grocery, wholesale and convenience rollout. 

The new flavour combined “the sweetness of honey with chilli heat in a delicious jelly” over Jaffa Cakes’ signature cake base and dark chocolate coating, according to the brand.

It follows the launch of a limited edition cola bottle flavoured spin-off by Jaffa Cakes last June. 

Jaffa Cakes Hot Honey was inspired by consumer demand for ‘swicy’– sweet and spicy – foods, said Pladis UK&I marketing manager Jessica Woolfrey. 

“This launch builds on the success of limited-edition Jaffa Cola Bottle, where hot honey is a flavour that’s trending globally amid a bigger movement that’s seen people embrace sweet and spicy across a wide range of food products,” she said. “We know consumers are increasingly looking for new and exciting flavours, and ‘swicy’ – sweet and spicy – hot honey is one of the most popular newer trends, with a huge following on social media and across the culinary world.”

Like Jaffa Cola Bottle, Jaffa Cakes’ latest NPD was specifically aimed at younger consumers, Woolfrey said.

“We are once again demonstrating our category leadership by launching a unique new flavour,” she said. “This ‘heat meets sweet’ trend has taken the savoury world by storm, and now we’re ready to boldly bring it into Jaffa Cakes. It packs a punch and has the ability to drive buzz, especially among younger consumers, just like Jaffa Cola Bottle did!”

Alongside the launch, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes core range will be being supported with a PR, above-the-line and social campaign over the coming months, as well as in-store point-of-sale activation.