Blockbuster video game Angry Birds is set to smash its way into the confectionery aisle of Britain’s supermarkets.

Finnish confectionery and bakery company Fazer is to use characters from the smartphone and tablet game to spearhead its international expansion plans.

In Angry Birds, players use a sling to catapult birds and squash pigs hiding inside buildings. Its Finnish developer Rovio announced in November that the game had been downloaded 500 million times.

Fazer first worked with Rovio last year, when it developed a special version of Angry Birds to support the launch of sugar confectionery brand Tyrkisk Peber Volcano.

The confectioner currently has no UK retail presence but sells products such as chocolate brand Geisha and mint brand Fazermint through airports shops across the world, including Britain. Its products were a major force in Nordic countries and Russia, said MD Pekka Rantala, and the company was in a good position to expand into Western Europe.

“We have the brands and expertise to open up new markets,” claimed Rantala, who was in the UK this week to meet potential distributors.

The company would not reveal details of the new products, which are due to launch in June, but said its R&D team had been working closely with Rovio.

A range of Angry Birds Gummies confectionery, which has no connection to Fazer, was launched into the American market late last year.

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