Cadbury '99' bar launch targets weight wary consumer
health concerns in a bid to boost stagnant sales as UK confectioner
Cadbury launches a new range of chocolate bars with under 99
calories.
A thinner version of the regular chocolate bars, the UK firm claims the slimmer size gives consumers "real Cadbury chocolate while keeping control of the calories."
Rolled out from June in the UK aisles, the range has three variants: Cadbury Dairy Milk; Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint Chips; and Bournville, a dark, 76 per cent cocoa chocolate.
The Cadbury '99' launch is the latest example of new moves by confectioners to target the growing market for food products with a health, or weight-conscious twist.
And to help eroding sales. Recent data from market researchers Mintel confirms that growth in chocolate sales is slowing down, kicking off in 2004 when overall chocolate volume sales rose by less than 1 per cent to 605 million kg in the UK, Europe's number one market.
"This trend is likely to continue to the end of the decade," say the researchers.
Eating their way through about 10 kilos of chocolate a year, the British are Europe's number one chocolate consumer followed by Germany and France with 8.3 and 5.8 kilos respectively.
Rolled out from June 2005 in the UK, the slimster Cadbury bars will retail at 25p (€0.36) per bar.
