Chicago, IL, February 2002 -- Mintel's Global New Products Database has seen a great number of exciting new food product introductions in the past month.
New moves in crackers
In this issue we report several interesting new moves in the savoury biscuits/crackers market. In Australia, Crackerbread has introduced a cracker bread "with the delicious flavour of garden herbs and chicken". The product is 97% fat-free, and is described as "sandwich-size", ideal as a snack or light meal with toppings.
Also in Australia, Ryvita has extended its range of crispbreads with a Crispy Foccacia variety - speciality and ethnic products have been performing well in the bread market, so why not in crispbreads too? Like other Ryvita products, it uses whole rye meal and is said to supply a balance of fibre and complex carbohydrates.
In Singapore, Danone has introduced Jacobs brand rice crackers, in three flavour varieties: Teriyaki, Spicy Barbecue, and Tomato Salsa. Late last year, the company introduced Thai Bites flavoured rice crackers in the UK, including Sweet Herb, Oriental Spice, and Lightly Salted varieties. Rice crackers are a "hot" area of the snacking market at present, following the success of brands such as Uncle Ben's Rispinos and Quaker Snack-a-Jacks, so it will be interesting to see where Danone goes with this next...
New move for Benecol
In its country of origin, Finland, the Benecol brand has been extended into a new area of business - processed poultry products. New there from Atria are Benecol chicken meatballs, containing vegetable stanol, said to help reduce cholesterol. The meatballs are sold chilled, packaged in a 250g bag featuring the familiar Benecol logo. In addition to the original yellow fat spread, Benecol is now also available as a spread with olive oil, yogurts, snack bars, salad dressings and cheese spread. Late last year, the brand was further extended in the UK, with a liquid semi-skimmed milk, from Lancashire Dairies.
In other functional foods news, Dossche Mills & Bakery has introduced two varieties of enriched flour in Belgium: Protection, containing soya protein, prebiotic inulin, and fermented grape seed; and Physics, made from seaweed, iodised salt and calcium.
FAB news
The Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages market has a new contender in Australia - Ruski Orange, available through Guinness UDV, is a 5% ABV orange flavoured beverage made with genuine Russian vodka. That "genuine Russian vodka" just happens to be Stolichnaya, the world's best seller, so the name unsurprisingly appears on the bottle label. The Smirnoff vodka brand is of course already used on FABs, including a premixed Moscow Mule and the highly, and internationally successful, Smirnoff Ice.
Fruit flavoured ciders have long been popular in some European markets, but a new move from Stassen in Belgium brings such products closer to FABs, even to premium packaged spirits. New under the X-Cider brand are three varieties of "cider cocktail": cider with vodka and orange; cider with tequila and tropical fruit juice; and cider with rum and lemon juice. They contain 6.9% ABV.
First Drink Brands
Vodka and chocolate finally meet in Canada with First Drink Brands' latest entry, Stolichnaya Vodka Shots. Contained in a silver paperboard tube, these milk chocolates are filled with Stolichnaya Russian vodka. Varieties include Stoli Vanil, Stoli Razberi, Stoli Ohranj, and Stoli Blue can be found on supermarket shelves.
Water plus
The main trend in the packaged water market has been to add value through the use of flavours, ingredients or packaging. In some cases, companies have added health-oriented ingredients to water to create a "functional" segment, or have positioned fortified waters as energy drinks. In South Africa, for example, Bromor extended the Energade energy drinks brand with the introduction of Aqua Active Sports Water, an oxygen-enhanced water with "essential minerals", while Coca-Cola in Belgium extended the Aquarius sports drink brand with Aquana Sportwater, a lemon flavoured water with mineral salts and vitamins.
In North America, Clearly Canadian Beverage joined forces with the Reebok brand to introduce Fitness Water, and new products are awaited from both PepsiCo (Aquafina Essentials) and Coca-Cola (Dasani Nutriwater).
One of the latest introductions to the segment is Water + Fitness, from Sanitarium in Australia. This is a still mineralised water, free from artificial colours and additives, and containing electrolytes to replace those lost during exercise.It is described as a refreshing, low calorie fluid replacement, ideal for a hectic lifestyle or before, during and after exercise.
Flavours in dairy and carbonates
Arla has added exotic new flavours to two dairy lines in Sweden. The company has introduced an Oriental Curry flavoured organic crème fraiche, and has also extended the Yoggi yogurt drink range with a new rhubarb & cardamom variety.
In Germany, Weihenstephan has added an elderberry & orange variety to the Frischer Rahmjoghurt Mild range of cream yogurts.
We also report two novel flavours in the carbonates market: in Australia, Coca-Coca Amatil has introduced Pasito, a passionfruit flavoured carbonated soft drink, packaged in a 375ml can.New in Singapore is Sunlight, a kiwi flavoured carbonated soft drink packaged in a 325ml can.
Vitamin-fortification Beverages
with enriched levels of vitamins and minerals are not new, but we are recently seeing more products that are fortified with a single nutrient (or single group of nutrients), rather than those that are packed with ten vitamins, multiple minerals and other health-oriented ingredients. A typical example, new from Looza in Belgium, is the B-3 juice drink. This sugar-free product contains juice from grapefruit, lime and white grapes, and is fortified with vitamins B1, B6 and B12.
Spoon format herbal tea
Back in 2000, Sotoco made preparing a cup of tea simpler in France with the launch of Spoonty, a spoon-shaped, tea filled plastic dispenser which simply needs to be placed in a cup, before brewing the tea. The concept has now been extended into the herbal segment. The plastic dispenser has a mesh layer to allow the verbena herb to infuse the water.
Homemade scotch on the rocks Creating a homemade scotch on the rocks has never been made easier with this Canadian introduction from Dorsey Marketing. Consumers need only freeze and add scotch to these Scotch Rocks Sealed Ice Trays, ready-to-freeze ice cubes of spring water from the Scottish Highlands. They are packed in trays with plastic film coverings in a 650ml box.
Kellogg & Cadbury cereal Pieces of the Cadbury chocolate candy bar will be floating in the milk of cereal bowls throughout Canada. Kellogg's, Cadbury Crunchie Cereal is available in supermarkets and mass merchandise stores. This co-branded product is touted as being low in fat, despite its equivalence to two chocolate bars.
Oreo moves into chocolate
The Oreo biscuit brand (now Kraft-owned) continues to be innovatively used in non-biscuit products. In recent times it has added texture and flavour to ice cream, breakfast cereal and cake launches. It is now making an appearance in a new Kraft Milka chocolate tablet in Argentina. Also in Latin America, this time in Brazil, is a multipurpose chocolate launch from Nestlé. Called Surpresa ChocoTubo it comprises a tube filled with chocolate flavoured cream. It can be consumed as it is, or frozen, and can also be used as a dessert topping or a biscuit filling.
Added healthy ingredients for sweets Fortification continues to be an important trend in all food areas. In this issue two Italian sugar confectionery launches highlight this continuing trend. La Giulia Industria has introduced Kalibra Bio, lemon flavoured sweets with hypericum extract (St John's Wort) to enhance mood. While the Dietorelle brand now includes Benefit orange & carrot flavoured toffees enriched with antioxidants, oligofructose and vitamins A, C and E.
Popcorn & pizza ice cream
Flavour & shape continues to add innovation to the Asian ice cream market. New in South Korea from Haitai Confectionery is a popcorn flavoured ice cream in a single serve 110ml plastic tub. Also in South Korea, this time from Lotte Confectionery is a wafer sandwich ice cream in a circular shape that is said to resemble a pizza!
Thai curry kit in Canada
For consumers looking to enjoy restaurant-quality cuisine in the comfort of their own homes, there's Fan-Fare, Thai Green Curry Kit in Canada. Retailing in a bright green container that resembles a take-out box, this kit offers consumers a time saving recipe. It includes Thai green curry paste, a Thai spice packet, Thai fragrant rice, Thai coconut milk, and Thai fish sauce.
Frozen olive oil
Presumably to add an ultra premium positioning, spotted in Austria from Novizio is a frozen extra virgin olive oil. It is made from the "finest" olives using traditional methods. To give further on-shelf presence it comes in a silver coloured insulated freezer bag with a plastic handle.
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