Made from a rice, oats and honey base, the bars come in in apricot, raisin and nut and milk chocolate chip and hazelnut variants and all have fewer than 100 calories. The company recommends two to three servings of Benecol each day to get the cholesterol-lowering benefits and the bars broadened the options. They joined Benecol spread and light cream cheese-style spreads, both launched in 1999, and yogurts, which arrived in 2000. Supported by a four-week £1m TV ad campaign, further ads for generic variants have maintained the brand's profile. Sales Information Resources puts value sales of the Benecol Cereal bars at £1.1m across all grocery & impulse outlets for the year ending January 27, 2002. In the same period, it puts total Cereal Bars at £104.6m ­ a rise of 26.1% ­ and the Healthier Biscuits sector up 16% to £141.5m. The company says... "Benecol Snack Bars are showing steady growth and will benefit from TV advertising later this year. Feedback indicates that they fulfil a valuable role within the Benecol portfolio among consumers on the go, including those wanting to take Benecol abroad on holiday." {{P&P }}

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