UBUK is aligning the Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks brands it bought from Golden Wonder with its existing Discos and Skips lines for a four-pronged assault on the savoury snacks category.

The company is relaunching both Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks this month following a £1m investment in recipe reformulation.

They will now contain half as much fat and up to 30% less sodium, as well as no artificial sweeteners, a fact which is flagged up by an on-pack flash.

The reformulation is just the first of bigger changes planned for the brands next year. Other developments will include new pack designs for Skips, Discos, Wheat Crunchies and Nik Naks, which will share similar characteristics and give the brands a more rebellious, hunger-filling image while retaining their quirkiness, said marketing manager Vijay Bhardwaj.

"Next year will be about combining the strengths of the brands," he said.

"We are redesigning them, as well as Skips and Discos, so they will all have the same cues."

UBUK bought Nik Naks and Wheat Crunchies from failed Golden Wonder back in February and has rushed to get the reformulated products on shelves to kickstart growth. "Golden Wonder had a tough time and we have inherited a sales decline, which meant we had to address some of the issues very quickly," said Bhardwaj.

"There is great awareness for these brands but they didn't address the health issues because they had the wrong proposition."

Flavours remain the same, with Nik Naks available in Nice 'n' Spicy, Rib 'n' Saucy, Cream 'n' Cheesy and Scampi 'n' Lemon, and Wheat Crunchies in Crispy Bacon, Big Cheese, Spicy Tomato and Worcester Sauce. Bhardwaj said that the company was also considering recipe revamps and limited editions.


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