Müller focuses on low-fat yoghurt… Rajah raises the flavour… Petits Filous goes on a big adventure… Warburtons poses a riddle…

What’s new overseas?

Budget undisclosed Manufacturer Müller

Müller has turned the spotlight on its low-fat yoghurt brand, Müllerlight, in its new TV advertising activity. It includes sponsorship of the Will & Grace sitcom series as well as TV commercials starting this month.
Jonathon Butt, Head of Global Sourcing, Thresher group

You imagine from the name Stinger that you are going to get a real taste experience here, strong and vivid, but you don’t. It is soft, fruity and gentle. In fact, almost hollow in the mouth. It could do with more bite and outright flavour.

The packaging is appealing, showcasing the brew’s greenbelt roots, but the beer’s organic heritage is not boldly stated - surely a missed opportunity in today’s discerning market. The back label is a bit unkempt - a bit like Hugh, really, and confusing, a little too busy and with too many messages.

I was expecting much more from a great team, but there’s no wow factor here. A missed opportunity to create much more.

Score: 15/25
Budget undisclosed Manufacturer Rajah

Running now on Zee TV, Sony Entertainment TV and B4U, the latest TV advertising for Indian food specialist Rajah demonstrates how the use of its spices can raise the flavour of Indian foods.
Product:

Fuwarinka

Company:

Kanebo

Country:

Japan
We are familiar with breath-freshening claims on mints and chewing gum, but a new product in Japan goes one stage further - it is designed to make the skin more fragrant.

Kanebo, a Japanese company active in the gum and sugar confectionery market, has launched Fuwarinka to support ‘the etiquette and beauty of the busy woman’.

It is claimed that the product works in the same way as garlic, in that elements travel through the bloodstream and are excreted by the sweat glands.

Kanebo has applied this mechanism to soft candy, infusing sweets with vanillin, from vanilla, which has also been shown to have an effect on the fragrance of sweat, but in a more socially acceptable manner than occurs with garlic. The consumer eats the sweet, which adds a vanilla scent to the skin after consumption.

It also contains hyaluronic acid, more commonly found in anti-ageing beauty and skincare products, which is believed to aid joint health, and collagen, widely used in beauty foods and beverages in Japan.

The sweets are sold in a highly attractive flexible pouch package with graphics that emphasise freshness and a resealable strip to make it conveniently portable for the busy female consumer.

Despite its highly functional positioning and unique formulation, the product is priced in line with the category as a whole, at around 60p for a 32g pack.

Japan is a constant source of innovation in the confectionery market, being especially strong in functional candies and gum.

Kanebo, which also recently produced a gum with geraniol, a primary part of oil of rose, plans to use the Fuwarinka technology in a line of food items for men, as well as in gums that aim to suppress the unpleasant odours of feet or armpits.

The company also has interests in cosmetics, so it will be interesting to watch where it takes this development next.
müllerlight

expert’s verdict

Rajah