Global trends – new product trends
The premium Kettle Chips brand of all-natural, hand-cooked potato chips is making moves on other root vegetables. New in the U.K. under its Specials range are Golden Parsnips savory snacks made with select parsnips, sunflower oil and sea salt. They are said to have a unique crispy bite, and offer another alternative to the popular potato snack. Kettle Chips is a company well known for its use of interesting and unique ingredients and flavors, with past novelties including colored crisps made with a unique variety of red potato, and burgundy wine-flavored crisps.
Within the hot beverages category, new chocolate and coffee blends continue to appear, with some interesting co-branded ideas. Confectionery brands are used often, with past new product examples including Nescafe Frothy instant coffee flavored with Butterfinger brand candy (from Nestle), and Jacobs Family Choco Cappuccino with a Milka brand chocolate flavor (from Kraft Foods). The latest chocolate brand to join the Jacobs cappuccino fold in Germany is D’aim from Kraft Foods. The new product comprises single sachets of Jacobs Choco Cappuccino with soft-melting, crispy D’aim chocolate bits.
A company in Ireland has launched a new Irish coffee designed for microwave preparation. Shannon’s Irish Coffee, new from Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur Co., is made with aged Irish whiskey and double cream and contains 11% alcohol by volume. Presented in a stemmed drinking glass with a handle and sealed with a foil lid, its layers of coffee and cream are “set” until it is heated in a microwave oven for 45 seconds.
In Italy, Bonduelle has introduced a new prepared salad under the name Agita e Gusta (“shake and taste”). The salad is packaged in a plastic tray incorporating an inner tub that holds a liquid dressing; the tray should be pressed in the middle to break the seal on the inner tub, and then shaken to allow the dressing to coat the salad. The pack also comes with a napkin and a plastic fork, and has a board sleeve to carry product information. Varieties include a mixed leaf salad with sweet corn & black olives.
Launching a New Product?
If so, contact Lynn Dornblaser at Mintel International Group, 213 W. Institute Pl., Suite 208, Chicago, IL 60610. Call 312-932-0600, fax 312-932-0474 or e-mail lynnd@mintel.com. Information in this column is from the Global New Products Database, the premier source of global product intelligence, published by Mintel International Group.
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COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
