Mars’ Maltesers bar to bite into Crunchie
Mars is planning to launch a Maltesers bar to compete with Cadbury’s Crunchie, according to industry sources.
The company has been dogged in recent years by its failure to produce new products and this would be a significant brand extension for the privately-owned confectionery giant, although Mars will not comment on its plans.
Mars introduced a new line to its Milky Way brand this month with the launch of Magic Stars – which offers a bite-sized version of the product.
The leading confectionery brand in the UK is Nestlé’s Kit Kat with sales of about 130m a year (Nielsen). Mars is second with its Mars bar which has sales of about 100m. Maltesers sales are worth 50m a year.
The fastest growing of the UK’s top ten brands is another Mars product, Galaxy, with sales up over 36 per cent by value last year.
Nestlé-owned After Eight is launching its first brand ex-tension since going on sale 33 years ago. The After Eight Collection offers a variety of plain and white milk chocolates as well as new shapes and textures.
