Cheestrings Spaghetti—Cheese Strings for Imaginative Kids

30 July 2010 | By Anna Rudenko

The British company Kerry Foods is expanding the portfolio of its Cheestrings snack brand with the launch of Cheestrings Spaghetti, which is actually cheese in the form and thickness of conventional spaghetti. The new product will come on the shelves in the bright and attractive lunch-box packages designed by the jkr agency next week. (more…)

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Tags: cheese, package design, plastic packaging, snacks

Samsung Helps “Know It All”

| By Anna Rudenko

Samsung Electronics Australia has started a major new marketing campaign in the digital and social media space, entitled “Mr Knowitall”, to educate consumers on the benefits of its innovative integrated social messaging service, Samsung Social Hub. Available on its two recently launched smartphones; the Samsung Wave and Samsung Galaxy S, the campaign is a first-of-its-kind online experience that demonstrates how the comedic character, Mr Knowitall, knows everything about everyone in his social circle all thanks to information he has gleaned from using Samsung Social Hub. (more…)

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Tags: mobile phones, Samsung, social media, technology

United Biscuits Offers Acquirers Growth Potential

| By Popsop Team

The article is written by Ildikó Szalai, Packaged Food Analyst at Euromonitor International

Following the highly publicised sale of Cadbury, United Biscuits, Britain’s leading biscuit manufacturer, could be next in line for sale by its private equity owners, Blackstone and PAI Partners, for an estimated £2 billion, although the sale process has not yet begun. The eventual acquisition of the world’s fourth largest biscuit maker would impact both the global and the Western European biscuit competitive landscape, especially if fellow leading players such as Kraft Foods or Premier Foods emerge as possible acquirers. In recent years, both companies have been expanding in biscuits and baked goods via acquisitions and have been building up their scale of operations.

United Biscuits commanded a 2.7% value share of the global biscuit market in 2009, equating to retail value sales of US$1,720 million. Despite its wide geographic presence covering Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and Eastern Europe, about 85% of the company’s sales are generated in Western Europe, a market which is expected to achieve a weak CAGR of 1.1% over 2010-2015, accounting for less than 12% of global biscuit value expansion over the period.

Return on investment

For any potential buyer, securing a good return on investment of approximately £2 billion in the short to medium term in a category where the core geographic market is expected to grow by about £620 million over the next five years will likely be a challenge.

In United Biscuits’ core Western European biscuit market, the continuing growth in demand for healthier products and still poor economic conditions are key factors behind this generally downbeat forecast. Injecting wellbeing-led innovations in such a category as biscuits will not be without obstacles, but trends such as high-fibre biscuits and products sweetened with stevia, a natural sweetener and the latest ingredient fuelling new product developments across health and wellness reduced-sugar foods and beverages, could be exploited in order to achieve more dynamic sales growth.

Opportunities in United Biscuits’ international markets

Although currently the company generates only a small proportion of its sales in emerging markets, it has established a presence in some of the most rapidly growing regions, such as Asia-Pacific, which is forecast to post a CAGR of 3.7% over 2010-2015, generating over 40% of global market growth in absolute retail value terms. In the region, the growth of a snacking culture, underpinned by rising consumer spending power, is set to drive momentum. However, United Biscuits’ Asian operations will need to be extended from Japan, which accounts for nearly 85% of the company’s Asia-Pacific sales, into China and India, which are the growth engines of the region’s biscuit market, with forecast CAGRs of 6.3% and 5.5%, respectively, as opposed to a 0.9% CAGR for Japan over 2010-2015.

Here are some United Biscuits’ popular brands, available in the UK. Packaging was designed by London-based jkr

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Tags: bakery & confectionery, food, United Biscuits

Coca-Cola Invites American Consumers to Help Their Favorite Parks Win Big

| By Anastasia Makarevich

Coca-Cola US together with the National Park Foundation launched the “America Is Your Park” campaign to encourage millions of Americans to be active outdoors and to cast a vote for their favorite park to win a $100,000 recreation grant made possible by Coca-Cola’s Live Positively initiative. (more…)

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Tags: Coca-Cola, social project, soft drinks

Carlsberg to Arrange a Huge Wedding for One Canadian Couple

| By Anna Rudenko

Carlsberg Canada believes that the day, on which people get married, is one of the most special occasions in their life. Through its Big Wedding Bash, the brand gives one deserving couple with an inspiring, impressive, unconventional or just sweet love story to win $100,000 for the wedding arrangements and make this day really worth to be remembered. (more…)

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Tags: alcohol drinks, beer, Carlsberg, festivals and competitions, youth marketing

Puma Launches Project Pink to Help Fight against Breast Cancer

| By Anna Rudenko

Sportlifestyle brand Puma® is excited to announce a new initiative that links women’s soccer with a well-deserving cause: launching this month, Puma’s Project Pink will strive to raise awareness—and funds—in support of the fight against breast cancer. In conjunction with their partnership with Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), Puma will outfit some of the best female players in the world in special Project Pink kits for five WPS matches. (more…)

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Tags: clothing & footwear, Puma, social project

Olympus Stylus Tough Can Endure It All

| By Anna Rudenko

The Olympus brand is launching new Stylus Tough 6000 and 8000 cameras, which can resist virtually any extreme conditions, under which conventional cameras would break in a blink of an eye. To prove that the new range is really “tougher than life”, the company arranged a series of serious real-life experiments, which are nothing like the bizarre faux-scientific tests by Toshiba or Samsung—Stylus Tough is not a laughing matter at all. (more…)

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Tags: Olympus, technology

Hershey and the American Dietetic Association Join Forces to Educate Americans on Balanced Eating

| By Anna Rudenko

The Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition® has become a partner of the American Dietetic Association in the corporate sponsorship program. The Center, which develops and supports cutting-edge scientific research for products and technologies to provide consumers with a range of snacking choices, will collaborate with ADA on consumer and health professional initiatives including an innovative, national consumer-focused nutrition education campaign. (more…)

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Tags: bakery & confectionery, Hershey, social project

Stream Foods ‘Go Wild’ with Design by Springetts

29 July 2010 | By Anna Rudenko

Stream Foods has launched a new range of wholefood snacks, designed by Springetts. The Wild brand comprises six exotic mixes, each reflecting a unique culture and culinary tradition, and will launch in the top 400 Tesco stores. (more…)

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Tags: box packaging, food, package design

Honda Jazz ‘Fits It All’

| By Anna Rudenko

What are the most important things about a car? We like when it’s fast, maneuvering, reliable, comfortable and spacious, of course. Honda has invited the DTDigital agency to develop a hilarious campaign for its small but roomy Honda Jazz model, which can fit just anything. Together they have launched a website, featuring four experiment spots as well as an invitation for everyone to enter the themed competition and win the vehicle. (more…)

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Tags: automobiles, festivals and competitions, Honda