Wednesday March 10, 2010

Godiva Adds To Premium Bar Line

New York — Six chocolate bars will join Godiva Chocolatier, Inc.’s Tablet line in 2010, building on the success of its premium business, according to Dan Grskovic, senior manager, channel marketing.

“As chocolate continues to hold its own in this tough economy, it’s premium chocolate that’s the category driver and that has continued to increase unit sales, versus more mainstream tablet bars,” he tells Candy & Snack TODAY.

The 3.5-ounce bars will be available this summer in white chocolate with vanilla bean, 40% cacao milk chocolate & hazelnuts, 31% cacao milk chocolate & salted caramel, 52% cacao dark chocolate & raspberry and 52% cacao dark chocolate & mint.

Bars have a SRP of $3.99 and ship two 10-ct displays per case and in 90-ct mixed floor shippers.

Godiva adds it has also extended its reach into the drug store channel, placing its new Godiva Gems line in more than 7,000 CVS Caremark Corp. stores.

This winter, the company will also introduce 31% cacao milk chocolate crispy crunch bars. They will be launched in holiday wrapping, but will reappear on retail shelves in January as an everyday item, according to Grskovic.

“Looking at data from IRI and Nielsen, we’ve had a watchful eye on which flavors are popular with consumers, and the ones we chose are the ones that are the most relevant to the market right now,” he adds.