Product showcase 2020: From personalised treats for back-to-schoolers to fall and festive NPDs

Back to school

Krispies Treats is rolling out limited edition ‘Love in Case of’ kits, giving parents a new way to connect and show support to kids returning to school.

The kits draw on the experience provided by real families, along with the expertise of actress Vanessa Lachey and Lori Gottlieb, author of “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed.”

Each kit contains 12 Rice Krispies Treats with writable wrappers, giving parents a dozen times to pen their support and show love to their offspring.

“Preparing for a new school year is always filled with new challenges, and this year, I know my kids will be adapting to new routines,”​ said Lachey.

“The Rice Krispies Treats writable wrapper gives me an easy, delicious way to reassure them that they are ‘New Routine Rockstars’ as they re-adjust to school day mornings, and the confidence to get their day started right.”​

The ‘Love in Case of’ kits are available exclusively at KelloggStore.com for $10 each. For each kit sold between August 20 and September 30, 2020, Kellogg will donate $20 to No Kid Hungry, which can provide up to 200 meals to kids in need.

Good luck at school

Kellogg UK is also getting personal by offering parents the chance to personalise ‘Back to School’ breakfast cereals for their kids.

Aimed at parents of children aged from six to 10 years old, the personalised packs are intended to add some magic to the back-to-school milestone.

Available now until November 30, consumers need to collect codes from three promotional packs of Kellogg’s breakfast favourites – including Coco Pops, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies or W.K. Kellogg by Kids cereal. They must then upload a photo and personalised message – including their child’s name, age and favourite cover – on Kelloggs.co.uk/BackToSchool. These will appear on their personalised cereal box cover. 

The promotion has been launched to mark the return back to school, which stands as the third biggest retail period in the year, estimated as an £1.16bn event, according to IRI data.

“As the third biggest retail period in the year, we identified the opportunity for Kellogg’s to make a moment of the return to school by introducing an element of personalisation,”​ said Kate Stokes, senior brand manager at Kellogg’s UK.

“Last year in the ‘Back to School’ time, we saw an increase in sales across our cereal portfolio and this year we are hoping that will be bolstered by our new on-pack promotion. This is the first time we have introduced personalised sleeves in the UK and we’re excited to see consumers engage on a personal level, with our much loved brands.’’​

Trick or treat!

Walmart’s 2020 Great Value Fall Bake Center will be rolling out on shelves in September and contains a myriad of treats:

Great Value Halloween Kits (all with an RRP of $4.97)

• Ghost Meringue Kit
• Skull Sugar Cookie Kit
• Spooky Vortex Sugar Cookie Kit
• Monster Eyes Sugar Cookie Kit
• Graveyard Brownie Kit
• Halloween Whoopie Pie Kit

Great Value Fall Mixes:

• Pumpkin Spice Pancake & Waffle Mix - $1.67
• Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix - $1.98
• Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread & Muffin Mix - $1.98
• Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread & Muffin Mix - $1.98
• Cranberry Orange Muffin & Quick Bread Mix - $1.98

Specially for the sweater season

Nestlé Toll House is bringing back three limited edition refrigerated cookie doughs due to popular demand.

Nothing say autumn (fall) like Nestlé Toll House Pumpkin Spice Filled Baking Truffles (9oz, RRP $3.19), which feature a creamy white shell and a delicately spiced centre.

Nestlé Toll House Fall’n Leaves Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (16oz, RRP $2.99) creates cookies that are soft and chewy, filled with semi-sweet chocolate morsels and topped with harvest-coloured leaf-shaped sprinkles.

More treat than trick is Nestlé Toll House M&M’s Ghoul’s Mix Sugar Cookie Dough (14oz, RRP $2.99), which introduces sugar cookie dough to Milk Chocolate M&M’s and Halloween sprinkles.

Nestlé Toll House Sea Salt Caramel Filled Baking Truffles (9oz, RRP $3.19) feature a real chocolate shell filled with a gooey salted caramel centre.

Nestlé Toll House seasonal morsels and refrigerated cookie doughs will be available at select grocery and mass merchandise stores later this month for a limited time only.

Unwrapping the season

pladis UK&I gets set for the festive season with traditional Christmas favourites and enticing new products from McVitie’s.

Tapping into key seasonal consumer trends – indulgence, togetherness and gifting – the McVitie’s 2020 Christmas selection comprises the return of popular products – such as the festive edition of McVitie’s Family Circle and McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Christmas Pole – alongside fresh innovation.

“Christmas is all about spending time with loved ones – and what better way to get into the festive spirit, with the people closest to you, than by indulging in a few delicious treats,”​ says Jonathan Bull, head of McVitie’s Commercial & Seasonal Brands at pladis UK&I.

“Whether it’s a quick snack to keep you going while the Christmas dinner is cooking, or settling down for the evening to share a box of biscuits, every product in the McVitie’s seasonal range has been skilfully selected as the perfect sharing treat for a range of consumption occasions​.

“This year, we’re taking the range one step further by giving some of our bestsellers – McVitie’s Digestives and McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes – a festive transformation, offering retailers the chance to take an even bigger bite out of the £161 million  seasonal sales opportunity​.”

The Christmas lineup includes:

• McVitie’s Christmas Pudding Milk Chocolate Digestives and McVitie’s Gingerbread Milk Chocolate Digestives (250g, RRP: £1.50)
• McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Orange & Cranberry (125g, RRP £1.20)
• McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Christmas Present (400g, RRP £3)
• McVitie’s Heritage Tin (400g, RRP: £8)
• McVitie’s White Chocolate Digestive Nibbles (120g, RRP £1)
• McVitie’s Family Circle (310g box, RRP £3.09; 620g box, RRP £4; new 1.24kg box, RRP £5.49 – the latter available exclusively at Costco)
• McVitie’s Victoria (300g, RRP £3; 600g, RRP £6; 825g, RRP £8; and 1.2kg, RRP £12)
• McVitie’s Moments Signature Chocolate Biscuit Selection (400g, RRP £6)
• McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Christmas Pole (40 Jaffa Cakes, RRP £3)
• McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Christmas Tin (239g, RRP £5)

The seasonal range is available at various UK grocery retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, as well as discounters.

The UK snacking company has also launched Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Smoky BBQ in a 105g Price-Marked Pack (PMP).

The new sharing format for the £68.4m brand will help retailers capitalise on consumer demand for relaxed sharing moments and evening consumption occasions.

“Jacob’s Mini Cheddars are already a store-cupboard staple for 35% of UK households,”​ said Christopher Owen, marketing controller at pladis UK&I.

“Sharing formats have played an important role in bringing families and households together during a tumultuous 2020 and, whether consumers are spending time indoors with their households or picnicking in the park with friends, we predict sharing will remain a key trend throughout the rest of the year.”​

Jacob’s Mini Cheddars BBQ PMP is available to independent retailers and wholesalers in a 105g sharing pack format for an RRP of £1.00. Packaging is recyclable through pladis’ partnership with Terracycle.

Cuppa java on the run

Special K Caramel Latte Pastry Crisps lets you be your own ‘bar’ista.

When your morning starts to fall apart and it’s all just a-latte to handle – from family demands or more upsetting breaking news – Kellogg’s tasty mashup combines your brew and pastry order at 100 calories a serving. Each two-pastry pack also contains as much caffeine as a half cup of coffee.

“These new Crisps bring the essence of your local coffee shop wherever you are,”​ said Courtney Bentley, brand manager for Special K.

“With this innovative indulgence you can enjoy anywhere, you can satisfy your caffeine craving with as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee. When our customers need a delicious, guilt-free boost, the Caramel Latte Pastry Crisps deliver.”​

Special K Caramel Latte Pastry Crisps are available in grocery stores across the US with an RRP of $3.49.

Guilt-free indulgence

Life is too short to not indulge, which is why Bougie Bakes has come up with healthier alternatives. With the help of a nutritionist, founders Meghan and Ryan Quin have perfected recipes that are  sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Bougie Bake’s lineup includes cookies, blondies, brownies, scones, and vegan mini muffins, made fresh for every order placed online. Available in midi and midi sizes, cookies come in four variants – Double Chocolate, Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter & Sugar-Free. There’s also a 20 cookie mix & match assortment for those who can’t pick just one ($40.00).

Prices start at $15.99 and subscriptions – with a saving of 10% - are available.

Walk on the wild side

Building on the success of its Unicorn Fruit Flakes launch, Fruit Bowl has expanded its treats range with Dino Yogurt Eggs to help parents bridge the gap between mealtimes for kids.

The juicy raisins are covered in yogurt in three natural colours and marbled to provide a speckled effect. The Dino Yogurt Eggs are the next step in Fruit Bowl’s ongoing mission to make fruit fun with fun captions like ‘frightfully tasty’ placed alongside dinosaurs and footprints on front of pack.

“We’ve listened to our customers and conducted significant research into what parents want,”​ said Susanne Fraser, group marketing manager for Fruit Bowl.

“This showed key insights into a need for ease, convenience, portioning and great tasting, real fruit products that engage children on their level too. We know, as parents ourselves, that we want to offer the very best items that our children will realistically eat, which is why we have created Dino Yogurt Eggs – a product made to keep both parents and children happy.” ​

The Dino Yogurt Eggs will be initially launch into Morrisons, with a rollout to Waitrose in September, available in multipacks containing five 20g packets for an RRP of £2.00. Also available online.