Page 24 - Food&Drink September 2019

SNACKS & CONFECTIONERY
✷ HAPPY FACES
HULSBOSCH CREATES SWEET NEW SUITE OF PACKS FOR COLES
Design and branding agency Hulsbosch has worked with Coles to redesign its Own Brand confectionery range, aiming to elevate the brand block on shelf.
Hulsbosch and Coles conducted an extensive category review and found customers were making healthier shopping choices with less sugar and artificial content in confectionery products.
The new lollies and liquorice packaging has a simplified
appearance, creating impactful shelf blocking. They also
feature a clearer messaging hierarchy to indicate the range
has no artificial colours or flavours.
Hulsbosch director Jaid Hulsbosch said the design strategy
was to create “unique, fun and clean designs [that]
define each product’s own personality and message for customers. From Liquorice Allsorts to Snakes, Milk Bottles and Jelly Beans and everything in between, we have applied our skills for each individual confectionery SKU for impactful shopping results instore or online.”
The Own Brand range has different faces on packs to evoke a certain personality and flavour cue for each product, and bold colours for easy product recognition.
“Hulsbosch’s brief was to reflect the fact our Own Brand confectionery offers a bright, fun and colourful treat that brings everyone together,” says Coles Own Brand head of marketing Belinda Anderson.
“The range has a classic appeal that transcends age and fashion.”
The first packs started rolling out in March, and from September the full range is in stores.
Coles Own Brand is a new client for the agency, and Hulsbosch said the team has other new pack designs in the pipeline for the brand.
Sweetly blended
When Australian sugar manufacturer CSR wanted to create a sugar alternative, it looked to nature. CSR marketing manager Mel Clayton talked to Food & Drink Business about the product’s development.
VISUALLY, CSR Lite Raw Reduced Calorie Sugar looks exactly like sugar.
CSR marketing manager Mel Clayton told Food & Drink Business the company’s objective was to develop a 1:1 sugar replacement that had less calories than regular cane sugar but would “still deliver on taste, sweetness and texture”.
It also had to be all natural. “Existing alternatives on the market do not deliver on the sugar flavour profile and leave an aftertaste,” Clayton says.
“ We tried recipes where this product replaced sugar across numerous beverages and baked goods until we were completely pleased with the results.”
Developing CSR Lite was a 12 month process, beginning with research to identify the availability of appropriate ingredients.
FINDING THE RIGHT BLEND
“Erythritol was chosen because it is a natural sweetener derived from plants,” Clayton says.
“It has almost no calories per 100 grams, but its sweetness is 70 per cent less than sugar, so we needed another ingredient to blend it with to get the right flavour profile.”
Stevia, which is also derived from plants, has 200 to 300 times the sweetness of cane sugar, but Clayton explained it has an aftertaste that CSR wanted to avoid.
The challenge was to get the right blend while ensuring there was no aftertaste, she said.
TESTING TIME
Particle size was also important for the uniform blending
of ingredients.
CSR tested a number of different ratios during manufacturing to ensure uniform blending as well as sensory responses.
Clayton told Food & Drink Business: “We tried recipes where this product replaced sugar across numerous beverages and baked goods until we were completely pleased with the results.”
CSR also gets Lite Raw regularly tested to ensure its quality is consistent.
“We are very happy with the final product, its fine texture mimics the fine uniform crystal size of caster sugar, so it can be used as 1:1 replacement.” ✷
24 | Food&Drink business | September 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au