Recent food and drink highlights from Mintel's Global New Products Database include sugar-free Red Bull energy drink and microwaveable Doritos snacks.
Attempts to market milk-based FABs persist. Past attempts include Super Milch in Germany (a 5.5 per cent ABV vodka milk shake drink) and Moo in the UK (a 5 per cent ABV milkshake aalcoholic dairy cooler').
A more recent attempt has been made in New Zealand by Independent Liquor which has launched Vodka Mudshake Chocolate with 5 per cent ABV. Independent Liquor has also added another interesting flavour addition to the New Zealand FABs market: vanilla. This again has been added to vodka to create Platinum Vanilla & Vodka. Both products come in single serve glass bottles in multipacks of four.
€ Sugar-free Red Bull. It's about time, some healthier consumers may say. Red Bull, the popular energy drink is finally being launched in a sugar-free version in the UK and the US. The UK line which has been picked up in retail still contains high energy caffeine and taurine, but is sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame K. This development will no doubt encourage other to follow suit and thus boost the sugar-free segment of the market.
€ Cheesy ice cream. The Asian ice cream market yet again surprises Western consumers by using savoury ingredients in an otherwise sweet treat. The latest savoury addition is cheese. New in the Philippines from Nestlé is Puto Bumbong comprising a macapuno (amutant coconut') flavoured ice cream with rice cake and cheese bits!
€ Vitamin fortified sweets. For a while now, a healthy slant has been given to the sugar confectionery market by fortifying lines with vitamins and minerals. We have also seen some functional moves predominantly from niche players (eg Function prebiotic sweets from Zile). Such healthy moves continue, and it is interesting to see these developments from leading brands such as Fruit-tella.
We continue to see a growing trend towards fortified beverages (juices in particular) to boost the diet with vitamins and minerals (rather than through taking tablet/capsule vitamin supplements). Many such launches have already been reported in North America, but the latest has appeared in Ireland. New there under an aptly named, Vitz Liquid Health label is a range of low sugar, no fat, low calorie adaily vitamin boost' juice drinks available in two varieties. The Tropical Tease Multi Vitamin Defence variety is fortified with vitamins A, C, E, B6, B12, H and B5, and is designed to replace lost nutrients and adefend against the hazards of modern living'. While the Bursting Berry Boost Vitamin & Ginseng Energy variety is enriched with vitamins C, B6, B3 and B5 as well as folic acid and ginseng, and is said to add zing to consumer's day.
Microwaveable Doritos
A novel snack chip product is now available in the US from Frito-Lay. Doritos Toppers Tortilla Snacks are microwaveable snack chips that deliver bold flavour when warmed. The chips come in two microwaveable trays, but can also be eaten straight from the pack. Ultimate Taco, Cheese Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza, Cheddar, and Cheddar & Quesadilla varieties are retailing in supermarkets.
Steap Green Tea Sodas in the US are all-natural sodas that claim to be the first soda marked with the new USDA certified organic seal. Moreover they combine healthy green tea with popular sodas such as cola. The soda is brewed using Ceylon green tea and comes in Cola, Lemon Dew, Raspberry, Orange, Key Lime, and Root Beer flavours. Green tea is also an ingredient in Cricket Green Tea Cola from Cricket Cola, available in regular and diet versions.
Dissolving candy
Jakks Pacific (the Malibu-based toy maker) has launched in the US Tongue Tape described as a candy version of the dissolving breath-freshener strips popular with adults (such as Wrigley's Eclipse). Sources have said that the product is set to begin showing up on select toy store shelves.
Mintel's network of field researchers conduct both product monitoring and product retrieval in more than 130 countries. www.mintel.com
