Mars and Cadbury unveiled products targeted at the growing demand for bite-size chocolate treats

In a first for the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand in the UK, Chocos will offer consumers 11 round pieces of chocolate in a roll-pack format (rsp: 57p for 44g). The launch follows the strong performance of a similar Cadbury product in Australia. "Our experiences in Australia have shown us that this format can co-exist with other Cadbury Dairy Milk products and grow sales incrementally," said Cadbury Dairy Milk marketing manager Julie Reynolds. "It taps directly into demand for bite-sized offers particularly from 20-something female consumers who love chocolate and want a permissible treat." The launch will be supported by a £1m marketing push that includes dedicated TV ads from May. Mars' Galaxy brand is also setting its sights on a young female audience with the roll-out of Galaxy Bites chocolate spheres with a chocolate caramel centre that will be appearing on-shelf from the end of this month (rsp: 54p for 40g). The line will benefit from a planned £14m above-the-line spend for the Galaxy brand. "Following the success of Galaxy Counters, which we launched last year, we are confident this addition to the Galaxy and bite-size ranges will be a big success," said Mars trade communications manager Bep Dhaliwal. Sales of the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand have grown 11.8% to £418.3m, while Galaxy has grown 13.2% to £224.2m (Nielsen 52w/e 25 December 2010).