The product, called Mikado Dark Intense, created after consumer research showed 89% of shoppers said they would be willing to try the biscuit.
Mikado was first launched in France in 1983 and brought to the UK in 2009. The brand is now worth £7.3m ($10m), according to Nielsen data.
Katie Dade, Mikado’s brand manager, said: “Mikado is a versatile snack that is ideal for on-the-go and this latest product will help bring a delectable moment during the afternoon slump.
“Premium and dark chocolate are the fastest growing segments in chocolate, and coupled with positive consumer testing and marketing support throughout 2018, we believe this launch will help retailers drive incremental biscuit sales,” she added.
Mondelēz’s biscuits business
This is not the first time Mondelēz has tried to step into the biscuit category. In November 2016, the company purchased the license to manufacture, market and sell Cadbury-branded biscuits from Burton’s Biscuits Company.
Mondelēz reported the purchase added incremental net revenues of $20m in the three months and $50m in the nine months ended September 30, 2017.
The company’s latest Q3 results also showed that its power brands grew 3.8% in revenues, mainly driven by belVita biscuits.
“Our belVita brand continues to be a standout. It is growing mid-single digits globally driven by our base breakfast biscuits as well as impactful line extensions like belVita Protein and belVita Bites,” said Irene Rosenfeld, Mondelēz’s former CEO during the quarterly earnings conference.
Dirk Van de Put took over the reigns from Rosenfeld when she retired in November 2017.
Rosenfeld also said Mondelēz’s biscuits business “turned in good performances” especially in the UK and Germany during the period, which was up double digits.
Euromonitor’s 2017 data showed Mondelēz’s biscuits brands – belVita, Cadbury and Oreo – make up three of the UK’s top five biscuits brands, with Pladis being the largest biscuits player in the market.