As the nation nibbles, dunks, and chomps its way through National Biscuit Day 2024 today (29 May), we take a look back at the most interesting biscuit launches in the UK baking industry over the past year.
McVitie’s White Chocolate Digestives
Speaking of traditions, or rather twists on them, McVitie’s announced its ‘most significant launch in a decade’ last July with a white chocolate version of its digestive biscuit.
Pladis, which owns McVitie’s along with several other bakery brands such as Jacob’s, Carr’s, Go Ahead!, Flipz, and BN, said the biscuits had proven particularly popular with young consumers during testing.
In rolling out a £1m giveaway campaign across its McVitie’s range last month, Pladis revealed that the White Chocolate Digestives had been its biggest launch in biscuits of the last two years. It said the variety had been worth £7.6m in the six months since debut, citing NielsenIQ data to 17 February 2024.
Tim Tam Chocolate Biscuits
Having been big Down Under for generations (it celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year), Australian brand Tim Tam made its UK retail debut in March with listings at Waitrose and Ocado.
Three flavour options – Original, Dark, and Chewy Caramel – are now available in 200g packs, priced at £2.50. The original recipe comprising a sandwich of two crunchy malted biscuits with a chocolate cream filling covered in a thin layer of textured milk chocolate was inspired by the British classic, Penguin biscuits.
A tradition unique to the antipodeans, but now promoted to UK consumers, is the ‘Tim Tam Slam’ whereby you bite off diagonally opposite corners of the biscuit and use it like a straw to suck up a hot beverage before shoving the slightly soaked remainder into your mouth.
Sports Biscuits
Demand for nostalgic childhood treats resulted in the resurrection of Sports shortcake biscuits by Elkes Biscuits. The products dated back to the early 1970’s but had been discontinued in June 2022 following Elkes’ acquisition from 2 Sisters by Boparan Private Office.
The 116-year-old manufacturer, based in Uttoxeter, had invested £1m in new equipment last year, with the relaunched biscuits featuring more detailed mouldings of sports figures playing the likes of netball, windsurfing, skateboarding, and car racing.
JNCK Cookies
Two years of research and development led to the launch of Jnck Bakery’s non-HFSS cookies last year, which offer 90% less sugar, 50% less saturated fat, three times more protein and five times more fibre when compared to existing products on the market.
The four-strong range includes Milky Chocolate, Triple Chocolate, White Gold Chocolate and White Ruby Chocolate variants, sold in packs of three (rsp: £1.99 - £2.60). Each 48g cookie is said to have a nutri-score of zero under the HFSS regulations.
The Maidenhead-headquartered company said it was continuing to move forward with plans to disrupt the UK sweet treat market with the appointment of four highly-experienced food industry professionals in senior roles last August.
Mars and Bounty Secret Centre Biscuits
An indulgent new format for two favourite chocolate bar brands was unveiled last July with the Secret Centre Biscuit range from Mars Chocolate Drinks and Treats (MCD&T). The Mars variant featured chocolate, caramel and nougat flavours coated in milk chocolate, while the Bounty one had a creamy coconut filling covered in milk chocolate.
They were aimed at tapping into rapid growth of the special treats subcategory at the time, which MCD&T general manager Michelle Frost said could be credited to the “lipstick effect”. This was when consumers were seeking to reward themselves with smaller treats and pick-me-ups and trade up to indulgent options despite financially challenging times.
Priced at £1.69 for an eight-pack (132g), the Secret Centre Biscuits were initially launched at Home Bargains and then Poundland. A Twix variant was added earlier this year.
Dominos Creme Egg Cookies
Billed as ‘the brand collab you didn’t know you needed’, pizza chain Domino’s stepped up its indulgence game at Easter by unveiling a limited-edition version of its popular takeaway cookie stuffed with a whole Cadbury Creme Egg.
The seasonal sweet treats reportedly sold out at stores across the UK. However, they faced a fierce backlash from former health minister Lord Bethell, who took to Twitter to label them as “disgusting” and “not illegal, but harmful”.
Domino’s noted that the items were similar to others found on the high street and pointed to its new £4 lunch menu rolled out last month, which includes Cheeky Little Pizzas under 600 calories. A two-pack of standard cookies is on the Extras list.
Marking the occasion
Bringing ourselves back up to the present and today’s National Biscuit Day celebrations, Hill Biscuits in Manchester is conducting various activities with local communities and beyond. These range from a school bake-off and biscuit donations at care homes and hospices, to giveaways for visitors at Portland Basin Museum.
The company is also working with the National Trust on a pledge to plant 200 trees – one for every 40,000 biscuit it is producing today. Hill recently unveiled plans to roll out £2m of investments over the next 12 to 18 months.
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