Nestlé drops cereal bar after poor sales

Nestlé Rowntree is scrapping the Rowntree’s Fruitsome cereal bar, less than a year after its launch. The bar failed to make an impression with consumers.

Fruitsome, launched last July, was the company’s first step into the cereal bar market. The yoghurt-covered fruit and cereal bar comes in three varieties: red berry, citrus and tropical. The company no longer has any products in the category.

The launch of Fruitsome was supported by press and radio advertising, and a sampling campaign across 30 cities, in tandem with the Double Cream chocolate bar. Fruitsome was available as single bars and in multi-packs.

The move comes just weeks after the launch of the McVitie’s a:m range, which is being supported by a £12m advertising campaign. The range includes a cereal bar as well as muffins and muesli slices (MW March 26). A £6m above-the-line campaign for the range, with the strapline “Make yourself at home”, has been created by Publicis and will break in June.

The cereal bar market is growing rapidly – at an estimated 20 per cent a year – as consumers demand healthy alternatives to traditional confectionery and biscuits. It is thought, however, that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the levels of sugar and fat in such products.