Cadbury axes Wispa brand name

Cadbury Trebor Bassett is ditching the Wispa brand and relaunching the chocolate bar as Dairy Milk Bubbles. The move is part of a strategy to bring all of its small brands under the Dairy Milk umbrella.

Caramel and Turkish Delight will also be bought under the brand and will now be made with Dairy Milk chocolate. The rebranding will start at the end of July and the rebranded bars will appear in stores from August. A number of new variants, such as mint chips, are also expected to be introduced to the Dairy Milk range.

Industry sources say Cadbury’s decision is part of a strategy to focus on the Dairy Milk range overall, rather than on each individual chocolate brand.

The move is similar to Masterfoods’ strategy with Galaxy, which has a number of sub-brands including Minstrels under its umbrella. Masterfoods is understood to be looking at rebranding Galaxy in Germany, where it is known as Amicelli, and the rest of Europe, where it is called Dove.

Last week, Cadbury came under fire for its Get Active campaign, which aims to promote exercise among children by offering sports equipment in exchange for tokens from wrappers. The £9m initiative was criticised by the Food Commission for encouraging children to eat large quantities of chocolate. Cadbury says that the focus of the campaign is physical activity and not diet, and that it envisaged the scheme being a community effort rather than just for children.