The days of rooting around a pack of Smarties searching for the orange one could be a thing of the past with the launch of Smarties Big Flavas.
The giant fruit-flavoured Smarties are hitting the market following consumer demand for more flavours, after years of disappointment that yellow, green, red and blue Smarties all have the same chocolate taste. Orange is the only colour with a fruit flavour.
For the first time, a green Smartie will taste of lime, a pink one of strawberry and a yellow one of banana in the giant range. Other flavours include raspberry (blue Smartie) and apple (mauve Smartie) as well as the two standard chocolate and orange flavours.
Nestlé Rowntree said the move would increase popularity of the brand among older children and adults.
Smarties are popular among 7 to 11-year-olds, but Flavas would appeal to more sophisticated tastes, it claimed.
“Everyone knows that the orange Smarties taste of orange, and it seems that older kids want more Smarties like this,” said Graham Walker, Nestlé Rowntree sales communications manager. “This innovation has been driven entirely by consumer demand.”
The product will carry the £5m Wonka Golden Ticket promotion, which is running across Nestlé Rowntree’s confectionery lines, as part of the company’s film tie-in with Johnny Depp’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which will be out on July 29.
The promotion will give five lucky ticket finders a tour around the Wonka factory film set and Warner Bros studios, as offered in the Roald Dahl story.
Smarties Big Flavas have an rsp of 35p for a 40g bag and will replace Giant Smarties, which Nestlé Rowntree launched in 1997.
Stefan Chomka