Something ‘treatier’ biscuits bite back.

The need for portable and tempting ‘pick me up’ treats in recent times has created fresh and innovative interest in the biscuit category – the place to fi nd individuallywrapped, tasty, sweet as well as savoury, snacks for when you’re ‘sitting in’ or on the move.

Something ‘treatier’

OUT OF HOME TREAT

Bronte, a Burton’s Biscuits Foodservice brand, says that it is driving sales of hot beverage accompaniments with its individually wrapped and ‘oh-sodunk able’ biscuits range, following the launch of its contemporary new look.

Available at various wholesalers, the rebrand of Bronte further builds on the success of the long-established brand. The new look logo, packaging and fl avours are the result of extensive research and now boast a premium look, designed to reposition Bronte as a contemporary brand that hospitality outlets would be proud to serve to their guests.

“The rebranding of Bronte forms part of Burton’s wider strategy for the channel, with new and exciting branded propositions in the pipeline to enhance the Burton’s Foodservice offering across all foodservice channels,” says Nykki Bezer, director of foodservice product & marketing at Burton’s Biscuit Company (www. burtonsbiscuits.com).

“The new-look Bronte range offers products to suit every guest, from luxury biscuits to every day treats and savoury snacks. With a core range at accessible price points, complemented by a premium offering for something a little more special, Bronte enables customers to select products according to budget and guest needs while ensuring outstanding quality at fantastic price points.”

Burton’s say that their aim was to create a range of high quality snacks that further enriched the customer’s experience when treating themselves out of home. Thus, their range delivers the known Bronte premium quality, but with a modern twist, including some new crafted biscuit fl avours such as cappuccino shortbread, raspberry, white choc & coconut, salted caramel chocolate chip and what Nykki Bezer describes as “an ultimate melt in the mouth buttery shortbread.”

“Our research shows a growth in demand for healthy products, but also highlights that even the most avid healthy eater still wants to indulge themselves with their hot beverage accompaniment,” Nykki Bezer continues.

“In a world of healthy eating messages and campaigns, consumers are still not willing to sacrifi ce all of life’s simple pleasures, with many seeking a more balanced approach when it comes to food and drink. This has led to increased demand for ‘treatier’ biscuits.

“The continued rise of coffee on the move also presents a key opportunity to implement a link purchase of a coffee with a sweet treat, enabling consumers to reward themselves, and we feel that our latest range of individually wrapped portion packed Bronte biscuits and snacks are perfect for customers looking for a permissible ‘treat me’ snack.”

Continuing with this trend is the launch of a new brand of chocolatecovered crunchy carrot biscuits has been launched to satisfy demand for indulgent guilt-free treats.

MARKET RESEARCH

Rootles is a new concept in the snack bar sector and is believed to be the first, and only, indulgent treat that is vegetable based to hit the impulse snacking category, and developed as a result of a university’s market research project.

Currently available in two flavours - dark chocolate and milk chocolate - each pack of Rootles contains three crunchy carrot biscuit fingers smothered in delicious chocolate. And at 120 calories per pack, they have fewer calories than many other snack bars because the biscuits are naturally sweetened with nutritious root veggies, claim their creators.

Baked with over 35% root veg and featuring carrot, along with a dash of sweet potato, Rootles are high in fibre too, and contain less sugar and fat than many chocolate snacks, the company point out, and making them suitable for food-to-go, speciality food stores, coffee shops, convenience stores and other food service and retail outlets, as well as feel-good snacking.

The Rootles brand has been developed by Helen Yates, who co-runs Luke Evans Bakery in Derbyshire with her husband, David (Luke Evans Bakery is one of the oldest family-run bakeries in the country, with a history stretching back to 1804). Rootles are currently made in North Macedonia to a recipe that has been perfected over many months and have a shelf life of at least seven months delivered.

Helen Yates says that she was inspired to develop the product through her work mentoring and supporting international business students at the University of Nottingham. The concept of using veg in biscuits was developed as a market research project, which in turn sparked her interest in the idea. Later, she received funded support from Mission Ventures and the Good Food Fund, which identified Rootles as being a winning healthy snack to help fight obesity.

“The Covid pandemic has led to a greater focus on health and Rootles are the perfect product for guilt-free snacking, as they are high fibre and contain just 120 calories per pack – fewer than many other snack bars,” says Helen Yates.

“Consumers are looking for healthier snacks, particularly in the impulse snacking sector, but they don’t expect to compromise on taste or texture and still want to treat themselves. Veg has been added to cakes for a long time but we’ve taken the concept a stage further and developed biscuit bars using root vegetables.

“Rootles taste like a traditional chocolate biscuit but are naturally sweetened with carrot and sweet potato. They are deliciously unconventional and really have to be tasted to be believed!”

The recommended retail selling price of Rootles (www.rootles.co.uk) is £1.00-1.20 per 27g pack.

BRITISH BAKED BISCOTTI

Like so many food categories before them, upmarket biscuits have been yet another deserving beneficiary of lockdown catch-up, with many stuck-at-home commuters looking for small ways to make their coffee breaks, brunches and light lunches a little more intriguing.

There was once a time when biscotti, for example, was little more than timeless knapsack fodder for invading Roman legionnaires - a rugged briquette of a biscuit that could only be associated with words like ‘rock hard’, ‘almondy’, ‘an acquired taste’ or ‘trusted coffee dunker’.

Fortunately, a small, specialist bakery – the Great British Biscotti Company (www.greatbritishbiscotti. co.uk) - in Dorset decided that Italian biscotti had set the taste expectation bar far too low and that Britain’s love of a crunchy, flavourful biscotti could best be ignited with a light bite treat that fought on both sides of the flavour divide (sweet and savoury) whilst playing to its permissible treat, ‘slow food’ and alluring world cuisine strengths.

As a result, Great British Biscotti Company’s love of intriguing flavour marriages has given rise to Choc Orange, White Chocolate, Pistachio and Cranberries and Sour Cherry Double Choc, all of which have the potential to pair well with any daytime coffee or tea you might care to imagine, claim the firm (who also claim that here is a biscuit that won’t crumple or dissolve within three seconds of being dunked in your favourite cuppa).

That said, however, their ever-expanding spread of savoury flavours (including Jalapeno & Cheddar, Sundried Tomato & Olives, Cheddar & Fennel, Red Onion Marmalade & Walnut) also means that today’s more versatile biscotti is just as at home crumbled over a salad or soup or eaten in splendid isolation, they propose (the Great British Biscotti Co also has a range for vegans and coeliacs who don’t want to miss out).

LESS SUGAR

“We are launching a new wafer range from a company called Lago in Italy, and as far as we know this range is not readily available on the UK market apart from in a small way,” says Shane Barry, sales and marketing executive at Nutshell Portions (www. nutshellportions.co.uk), a dedicated single portion printing and packing facility.

“The target market for these is coffee shops and cafés. However, we primarily work with coffee companies and food wholesalers for distribution not directly with individual coffee shops. We also feel that a stand-out feature of this range are the sugar free varieties which are available.”

Lago brings customers the taste of Italy with crispy wafers and soft cream that make the perfect snack with a hot drink, feel Nutshell Portions, representing a potentially high margin, any season, impulse purchase line for vending, snack counters and coffee shop till points, they suggest.

The range includes classic

wafers in fi ve different fl avours, mini wafers and chocolate coated wafers all in convenient individually wrapped portions (there are also some award winning sugar free varieties).

“Biscuits and snacks are irresistible and will always be a ‘must have’ treat with your coffee, especially out and about at cafés and coffee shops,” adds Shane Barry.

“However, most biscuit and snack varieties contain a lot of sugar and with the increase in consumers making health-conscious decisions more are avoiding high sugar content snacks.

“Lago Wafers Sugar Free range contain maltitol sweetener instead of the regular sugar that wafers, biscuits and snacks usually contain. The malitol sweetener doesn’t give the sugar rush that conventional sugar does making it much more manageable for diabetics. Using malitol sweetener instead of sugar also means it’s less likely to contribute to tooth decay and is a healthier option for all consumers.”

The range includes 45g packs of wafers for those who wish to share or savour them throughout the day, or individual 15g packs for a quick snack. The only VEGETABLE VEGETABLE based biscuit on the market Only 120 calories per serving High Fibre Contains over 35% root vegetable

www.rootles.co.uk