Weetabix Food Co is this week rolling out a breakfast drink it says has “all the energy, fibre and protein of a Weetabix cereal in milk”.
Weetabix On The Go Breakfast Drink will be available in three flavours – Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla – in a 250ml single-serve, resealable bottle (rsp: £1.39). It will be stocked by all major supermarkets, said the company, and will be available in chillers in c-stores and forecourts.
With one in five adults skipping breakfast either “often or occasionally”, according to Weetabix, the launch was designed to offer a new option to shoppers not satisfied by current on-the-go products.
“Lives continue to get fuller across the UK, and breakfast time can get squeezed,” said Weetabix marketing manager Francesca Davies. “Consumer research highlighted that convenience was key. For those consumers who occasionally don’t have time for a sit-down meal, we want to provide something that is satisfying, filling and packed full of the same protein, energy and fibre that a traditional Weetabix breakfast would provide.”
Weetabix is investing £5m in an advertising push for its new drinks, adding that it would continue to “significantly invest” in the core Weetabix cereal brand, which has fallen 1.7% in value in the past year to £143m [Nielsen 52 w/e 18 October 2013].
Demand for on-the-go breakfast has fuelled rapid growth in the breakfast biscuits market in recent years, with sales up 78.9% to £76m year-on-year [IRI 52 w/e 17 August 2013] following an 88% increase in sales the year before. Weetabix launched its own On The Go breakfast biscuits a year ago.
“The breakfast-on-the-move category is expected to grow more so over the next three years and we want Weetabix to be leading the charge,” added Davies. “Our customers look to us as Britain’s breakfast expert and we have a responsibility to ensure they get what they need in a way that’s suitable for today’s many different lifestyles.”
A liquid breakfast range was launched by Fresh Marketing under its Fuel brand in single Tetra Pak cartons last February, and has since been expanded into multipacks.
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