Nestlé UK and Ireland has created the new Milkybar Wowsomes, the first chocolate bar to use the multinational confectionery giant’s innovative sugar reduction technique.
Nestlé said in a statement researchers made a scientific breakthrough when they transformed the structure of sugar through a newly developed process using only natural ingredients.
“It is with great pride that the UK and Ireland becomes the first market in the world to use this exciting technology to create such a great tasting confectionery product. We have an unrivalled research and development network and the experts at our Product Technology Centre in York have been instrumental in this breakthrough. Teams across our UK business and around the world have been working incredibly hard to make this launch a reality,” said Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé UK & Ireland.
“We announced earlier this month that we have taken out more than 60 billion calories and 2.6 billion teaspoons of sugar from across our food and drink portfolio in the last three years. A new product like Milkybar Wowsomes introduces greater choice and allows parents to News Release 2 treat their children with chocolate that tastes great but has less sugar. We are demonstrating how we can, and will, contribute to a healthier future and that we take our public health responsibilities very seriously.”
Inspired by candy floss, experts created aerated, porous particles of sugar that dissolve more quickly in the mouth. This allows someone to perceive the same level of sweetness as before while consuming less sugar.
Milkybar Wowsomes have 30 per cent less sugar than similar chocolate products and contains no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours or flavourings. It has milk as its number one ingredient, contains crispy oat cereal pieces, is a source of fibre and is gluten free. The range has products in a number of different sizes for different occasions and the largest sized bars are 18g and have 95 calories each.
“The ambition behind Milkybar Wowsomes was enormous and it has been a real challenge for us to get to this stage. To create a confectionery product in just 12 months which has 30 per cent less sugar than similar chocolate products and contains no artificial sweeteners is extraordinary. We have also made sure that our largest individually wrapped product contains 95 calories per bar,” said Jas Scott de Martinville, global lead for Nestlé Confectionery Research & Development and head of Nestlé’s Confectionery Product Technology Centre in York, UK.
“It is very rewarding to launch a great tasting product knowing all of the hard work that went into this development. We will continue our work and take this technology further so that we can deliver more confectionery products that taste great and are better for our consumers.”
The achievement has taken little over a year for Nestlé teams in Switzerland, the UK and the Czech Republic to take the scientific and technological breakthrough and turn it into a new confectionery product.
Milkybar Wowsomes will be available in single bars, multipacks and a stock-up bag with individually wrapped single pieces. It comes in two variants, white chocolate and a combined milk and white chocolate. Each piece is made of smooth white or white and milk chocolate and has a creamy-tasting centre containing crispy oat cereal pieces.
Nestlé said this is also the first time in Milkybar’s 81-year history that it has contained both milk and white chocolate in the same bar. Milkybar Wowsomes will begin to appear for sale in all major retailers across the UK and Ireland from next week.
