FDBusiness.com

General Mills is launching new lines across both its Fibre One and Nature Valley portfolios, as it reveals its snacking division has grown +35.4% and household penetration has grown +12.1 percentage points to 25.3%[1] – equating to the size of London[2]. Cake Bars will be added to Fibre One’s guilt-free snacking range in two flavours: Triple Choc and Carrot Cake, each available in boxes of 4x25g (RRP £2.89). First hitting grocery retail shelves on 13 August, the new bars will then be rolled out across the multiples.

The Fibre One Cake Bars comprise a multi-layer taste experience with the Triple Choc variant layering soft cake, a smooth creamy filling and a rich dark topping with sprinkles. The Carrot Cake has a layer of subtly spiced cake, sweet cream cheese flavour filling, icing and a sprinkle of chopped nuts. Both products honour the Fibre One USP with 90 calories per bar, while each also contains at least 30% more fibre, 30% less fat and 30% less sugar than the average cake bar in the UK[3].

With 65% of Healthy Biscuit and Bars consumption taking place before noon[4], Fibre One’s Cake Bars will tap into a new evening occasion, where consumers are looking for more indulgent options, while not compromising their diet. This latest NPD addition aims to ensure there is a Fibre One bar for any time of day, with Fibre One Popcorn Bars perfect for a mid-morning snack, Brownies offering the ideal afternoon treat and Cake Bars answering the evening occasion.

Fibre One will return to TV in September with a £700K campaign, followed by support for the Cake Bar platform later in the year. The brand continues to show rapid growth, with a current worth of £17.3m, +111% on last year[5]. In data to 30 June 2018, penetration reach 7.8%[6] of households with a further new platform – Fibre One Popcorn Bars – also launching that month.

Nature Valley adds to Nut Butter platform

Alongside the phenomenal growth seen from Fibre One, Nature Valley also continues to show significant growth of +21.0%[7]. Its Nut Butter platform has doubled in penetration since February, up to 2.8% following its first TV campaign, with sales since its September 2017 launch reaching £2.9m. Nut Butter Biscuits Cocoa Hazelnut will join the current range of two, hitting shelves next month. These will consist of wholegrain biscuits with a filling of real cocoa and hazelnut butter, without artificial colours, preservatives or flavours – perfect as a breakfast replacement or morning snack.

Nature Valley will also launch two Nut Butter Cups in September, bringing brand new formats to the Nut Butter platform and into the category. These will comprise of wholegrain crunchy oat cups filled with either real peanut or almond butter, topped with nuts and dipped in chocolate (RRP £2.89). Answering consumer demand for permissible indulgence, this launch is targeted towards the late afternoon or evening treat occasion. Keeping convenience also firmly in mind, from October, Peanut Nut Butter Biscuit and Peanut Nut Butter Cup will be available in singles (RRP £0.85).

The Nut Butter platform will be supported by a £800,000 TV campaign that will run for five weeks from 25 October.

Snacking sales

General Mills’ Snacking division has enjoyed major growth in the last year, with Nature Valley now worth more than £50 million. Having just come to the end of a full through-the-line campaign on its Protein platform, Protein is at its highest ever penetration at 5.5%, +1.1ppts[8]. It has also achieved highest ever four-week market share at 3.6%, +0.8ppts, as well as the highest ever total Nature Valley brand penetration at 17.7%, +4.8ppts, versus last year[9].

Within the Cereal Bars & Healthier Biscuits category, General Mills now holds a 12.3% value share at £69.43 million with value sales up 35.4% to £18.2m[10].

Arjoon Bose, Head of Snacking for General Mills UK & Ireland, says: “The Snacking division at General Mills has had a bumper year as we have exponentially grown both our Fibre One and Nature Valley brands. We have strategically realigned the platforms, introducing Popcorn Bars to the Diet Management portfolio of Fibre One, while innovating within our long-established Nature Valley platform with Nut Butter and more NPD to come.

“With our UK house penetration now reaching 6.9m – up 12.1%[11] on last year – both have become household brands, reaching the equivalent of all the homes in London. We are excited to continue building on our success with further NPD and Fibre One will also be hitting TV screens from September.”