Mars chills out with dessert launch

Mars is to launch chilled dessert versions of its Galaxy and Milky Way chocolate brands this April through a tie-up with Northern Foods subsidiary Eden Vale.

The move, first predicted in Marketing Week (September 19 1997), marks an attempt by Mars to catch up with rivals Cadbury and Nestlé, which are already established in the high-margin, and high-growth, chilled desserts sector.

Mars has been content to keep producing the same chocolate bars decade after decade – an image Mars attempted to dispel with the much-lauded extension of its confectionery brands into the ice cream market in 1984. But ice cream is a risky sector, as its success depends on hot weather.

More recently, Mars took steps to franchise its brand name for use on a range of cakes, desserts and biscuits. The company has also produced Mars and Galaxy drinks.

Galaxy Chocolate Dessert will come in 75g pots, priced at 99p for two. The Milky Way dessert comes in 50g pots of chocolate and white chequered mousse at 1.09 for four.

St Ivel, part of Unigate which licen-ses Cadbury brands, launches Cadbury’s Crunchie Twinpot this week.

News Analysis, page 21

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