8th May 2010, on the menu today...
Rowntree's Sour Pastilles
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Following on from their highly successful Randoms confectionery (see my review here), Rowntree's have launched this delightful little product. The packaging format is very similar to Randoms and I guess they are hoping the momentum behind the brand at the moment will allow them to successfully penetrate the potentially lucrative sour chew market. Anyways, we have a new Rowntree's product to try so on with the review.
Design:
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The rectangular packet the chews come in is alomst identical in shape to the Randoms product and the font and colours are not too disimilar either. Apart from the benefit of continuity, these packets are pretty distinctive on the store shelf so I think this was a good move from the manufacturer.
With redgards to the imagery, it communicates the sour nature of the confectionery well with specks of 'fizz' decorating the green and yellow background and a sparkly edged brand name. Also, the design reinforces the fruit-base nature of the chews by coupling a graphic of each chew with their repestive frut.
As for those blasted health messages that decorate so much of today's packaging, you won't be surprised to hear that I didn't like them on the Randoms product and I don't like them here. I feel they detract from the fun asethetic of the design and would be better off positioned prominently on the back of the packet for enquisitive parents - presumably the target.
Finally, to the chews themselves. There were 18 sweets in my packet making equal quantities of the five flavours impossible; however, with very few blackcurrant chews and a lot of limes it is apparent that no effort is made to distribute the flavours evenly. As for the chew designs, I guess you could call them vaguley reminiscent of their respective fruits but they're not the greatest.
Taste:
This is where the product shines. At first, the chews are quite hard to the bite and quite sour; however, wih further chewing, the flavours develop and the sour subdues into a lovely Fruit Pastille taste. With regards to the flavours, I can well believe their fruit juice claim as I thought the chews replicated the taste of their respective fruits fabulously. Moreover, I loved the way the maufacturer strayed from the usual Fruit Pastille flavour array with cherry, melon and pineapple - a particularly welcomed surprise.
All in all, I am a very happy customer. Rowntree's gave us a fun concept and variety with Randoms, but here they have gone back to basics and focused on making a really tasty product that throws in a few new flavours to excite the taste buds.
Have you considered...?
The confectionery contains 25% fruit juice as well as no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. In addition, 7 sweets provide only 84 calories (4% of an adult's GDA).
History
Released on 4th April 2011, Rowntree's Sour Pastilles was an attempt by the manufacturer to successfully penetrate the growing sour chew market and build on recent success which saw sales increase by 10% over the prior year. Initially released in packets similar to Rowntree's Randoms, the product was supported by a £3 million marketing budget to cover digital and television communicatios throughout the following month (May).
Related TGBD Articles:
Web Links:
Nestle UK (Rowntree's owner)
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