The market that caters for people on the move is a runaway success and now wants to make it big in breakfasts Is it a biscuit, a snack, a lunchbox filler, or a breakfast substitute? The cereal bar is a product which defies precise definition because it fulfils all these roles, depending on how it is marketed and in which category it is merchandised. Its multiple personality, which enables it to be sold on a wide variety of fixtures ensuring maximum visibility and uptake, is one of the keys to its outstanding growth. The cereal bar market is now worth £106.5m, with growth romping away at 16% value, 14.2% volume (IR), a performance that outstrips virtually everything else in the overall static cereals market. Jordans, which claims to have pioneered the market in 1980 with its Original Crunchy bar, attributes growth to a combination of convenience and healthy eating. "Cereal bars are scoring because consumers are increasingly looking for healthier snack alternatives," says business development director Edward Olphin. Jordans' bestselling Frusli, which comes in five fruit variants, is the fastest growing bar on the market, up 23%. Other top brands are Mars' Tracker, McVitie's Go Ahead, Quaker's Harvest and Jacobs Vitalina. Frusli has just been repackaged, along with the rest of Jordans' cereal range, and is to be promoted heavily in the independents, particularly in impulse outlets. "Distribution is weak in independents and we see this as huge opportunity to grow snacking," says Olphin. Cereal bars are consumed all day as a snack, but real growth this year will be coming from breakfast bars, if the number of new products is anything to go by. Kellogg's created the sector four years ago with Nutri-Grain and its variants to provide a convenient, nutritious breakfast substitute for the increasing number of people who skip this important meal. Its strategy has proved to be a winner, for it has since brought out further bars targeted at specific audiences, such as Cereal & Milk Bar, a healthier snack for children, and Nutri-Grain Elevenses, a morning snack, launched last summer. Its domination of breakfast bars is now being challenged by a variety of fresh entrants. Mars has two new Tracker bars, banana and strawberry, aimed at the breakfast market. They come in single bars and multipacks for the impulse and grocery sectors and are backed by a £1m campaign. Mars recommends positioning them in the cereal bar fixture rather than alongside breakfast cereals. Jordans has been trialling Break ­ a new breakfast bar in fruit & nut and sultana & honey flavours ­ since September in selected Tesco and Sainsbury outlets. Initial targeting at the multiples will followed by the independents. Among other newcomers is Doves Farm's organic Easy Bar, winner of the Dried Fruit Association snack award, and Tasty Bar. Marketing director Clare Marriage says they've gained listings in three multiples since launch in June. "They're positioned in the organic fixtures, but we'd like them in the breakfast bar section," says Marriage. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}