Suppliers are working harder to get products into lunchboxes but they don’t want lines pigeonholed by the type of occasion
Popping a chocolate biscuit into a lunchbox is a time-honoured British culinary tradition that seems under threat. Perhaps consumers are feeling the pressure from health watchdogs as, according to TNS, the chocolate biscuit bars sector is down 6.4% to £387m [52 w/e August 15, 2004].
The big manufacturers are having to work harder in a bid to get their brands into lunchboxes. Burton’s Foods recently launched Cadbury Giant Fingers with the aim of capturing a significant slice of the lunchbox market and gave its whole Fingers portfolio a new look.
Toby Barty, senior brand manager for Cadbury, admits it’s difficult to influence people to put biscuits into their lunchbox so making sure the formats are right is important. “For kids, it’s about portionability and providing products where the parent can control the amount given and making sure the product isn’t messy to eat. For adults, you have old favourites which they rotate each day.”
Manor Bakeries revamped its wrapped cake packaging and added several new products to the range, partly to target lunchboxes. Mini Rolls is the subject of a major TV campaign this autumn while 13 new products now come under the Cadbury’s Cakes banner including Cadbury Irresistibles and Cadbury Fudge Bites.
And the character-licensed product category is also growing, according to cake producer Bon Bon Buddies, which has just introduced SpongeBob SquarePants Mini Cereal Bites for children.
However, most manufacturers are keen not to pigeonhole their products into areas such as lunchboxes. According to Graham Walker, Nestlé’s sales communication manager, although lunchboxes have been a stalwart for chocolate biscuit bars, these days it favours multi-purpose products, so that consumers will want to eat them at other times of the day too.
He says: “Our main focus will continue to be Kit Kat. The consumer trend towards indulgence is the reason behind our white and dark chocolate variants - and you’ll see more from Kit Kat in terms of variants.”
United Biscuits is trying to find new eating occasions for its flapjacks (including Snickers and Chocolate HobNobs) by putting them into multipacks of five individually wrapped portions to encourage more eat-later occasions such as lunchbox.
According to Paul Selvey, head of consumer marketing for convenience, 42% of packed lunches are eaten by men, 29% by women and 29% by kids, which means it’s not always appropriate to target young children with lunchbox ideas. “A lot of healthier biscuits are in lunchbox format and as people are looking for these products, we’ve found a huge increase in Go ahead! cereal bar sales.
“People eat these kinds of snack products mid-morning, and for breakfast as well as with sandwiches.”
TNS reckons cereal bars are seen as a healthy alternative for snacking and lunchboxes, and it’s an area which Fox’s Biscuits is also focusing on, says Simon Smith, marketing director: “Cereal bars are ideal for lunchboxes - they’re not just about breakfast. We’re targeting both adults and kids and want to make sure that our main product offerings are available in packaging formats that suit lunchboxes.
Popping a chocolate biscuit into a lunchbox is a time-honoured British culinary tradition that seems under threat. Perhaps consumers are feeling the pressure from health watchdogs as, according to TNS, the chocolate biscuit bars sector is down 6.4% to £387m [52 w/e August 15, 2004].
The big manufacturers are having to work harder in a bid to get their brands into lunchboxes. Burton’s Foods recently launched Cadbury Giant Fingers with the aim of capturing a significant slice of the lunchbox market and gave its whole Fingers portfolio a new look.
Toby Barty, senior brand manager for Cadbury, admits it’s difficult to influence people to put biscuits into their lunchbox so making sure the formats are right is important. “For kids, it’s about portionability and providing products where the parent can control the amount given and making sure the product isn’t messy to eat. For adults, you have old favourites which they rotate each day.”
Manor Bakeries revamped its wrapped cake packaging and added several new products to the range, partly to target lunchboxes. Mini Rolls is the subject of a major TV campaign this autumn while 13 new products now come under the Cadbury’s Cakes banner including Cadbury Irresistibles and Cadbury Fudge Bites.
And the character-licensed product category is also growing, according to cake producer Bon Bon Buddies, which has just introduced SpongeBob SquarePants Mini Cereal Bites for children.
However, most manufacturers are keen not to pigeonhole their products into areas such as lunchboxes. According to Graham Walker, Nestlé’s sales communication manager, although lunchboxes have been a stalwart for chocolate biscuit bars, these days it favours multi-purpose products, so that consumers will want to eat them at other times of the day too.
He says: “Our main focus will continue to be Kit Kat. The consumer trend towards indulgence is the reason behind our white and dark chocolate variants - and you’ll see more from Kit Kat in terms of variants.”
United Biscuits is trying to find new eating occasions for its flapjacks (including Snickers and Chocolate HobNobs) by putting them into multipacks of five individually wrapped portions to encourage more eat-later occasions such as lunchbox.
According to Paul Selvey, head of consumer marketing for convenience, 42% of packed lunches are eaten by men, 29% by women and 29% by kids, which means it’s not always appropriate to target young children with lunchbox ideas. “A lot of healthier biscuits are in lunchbox format and as people are looking for these products, we’ve found a huge increase in Go ahead! cereal bar sales.
“People eat these kinds of snack products mid-morning, and for breakfast as well as with sandwiches.”
TNS reckons cereal bars are seen as a healthy alternative for snacking and lunchboxes, and it’s an area which Fox’s Biscuits is also focusing on, says Simon Smith, marketing director: “Cereal bars are ideal for lunchboxes - they’re not just about breakfast. We’re targeting both adults and kids and want to make sure that our main product offerings are available in packaging formats that suit lunchboxes.
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