Cadbury launches two new chocolate bars amid rising commodity prices and a slump in pound sterling
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Version 0 of 1. UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound. The company’s new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at £1.49, according to the company. By comparison, Cadbury’s classic Dairy Milk bar is 45g. Its “Big Taste” range launched in March last year includes chocolate bars of 300g and in April Cadbury plans to expand that range with a new bar. The company’s choice of flavour for the new chocolate bars appears to be in-line with previously successful releases. Kale, wasabi and beetroot were among the new versions trialled at Mondelez's research and development labs in Bourneville - though Cadbury said it had no plans to put those flavours on sale. Like other consumer goods companies, Mondelez International, which bought Cadbury in 2010, has not proved immune to price pressures and the new launches might bolster sales at a challenging time for the whole market. Mondelez, last year cut the weight of Toblerone bars by widening the gaps between the chocolate peaks. It is reportedly expected to raise prices of Cadbury’s Freddo bars in spring this year. Although Mondalez has declined to discuss which specific brands might be affected by the price increase, it confirmed earlier this year that there would be “selective” rises across its range. The confectionery industry has a history of “shrinkflation”, where prices remain the same as portion sizes get smaller, but conditions this year have put particular pressure on chocolatiers. Several companies including Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy, and Mars, which owns the Maltesers brand said products will either go up in price or becoming smaller in 2017 due to rising commodity costs coupled with foreign exchange pressures. Last year Cadbury announced it is s pulling out of the Fairtrade scheme, after seven years of giving some of its best-known chocolate treats an ethical stamp of approval, in favour of its own sustainability programme – Cocoa Life scheme. |