RECENT ADDITION: M&S Dessert Menu Tiramisu

Simply put, I adore tiramisu. The mature combination of cream, sponge, coffee and alcohol of some kind is one to be savoured. To that end, I didn't need much convincing on this offering from Marks & Spencer with its promise of a rather delicious sounding amaretto-flavoured cream layer. 

The packaging was pretty attractive with the sleek black and gold presentation box communicating a classy, sophisticated feel. The little window was also a nice touch with the dessert temptingly on view.   

As for the look of the dessert itself, the plastic container come shot glass was fun and showed off the nicely defined layers well. Of course, the presentation was a bit less impressive than the product shot with the whiteness of the cream slightly 'muddied' in areas and the chocolate shards not quite as voluminous. That said, they've tried to have some fun with it and I've certainly seen a lot worse.

Tucking in, the cream shone immediately thanks to the punchy amaretto. With coffee-soaked sponge soon weighing in and bits of chocolate punctuating the experience, the flavours and textures were wonderfully varied and complementary. Admittedly, it would have been nice to have had two coffee-soaked sponge layers so you didn't have to dig down so far to get a spoonful of both components but, all things considered, these were delicious. 

Costing £3 for the two desserts (or £10 as part of a very economical 'dinner for two' deal), these tiramisus were presented in a fun way and delivered bags of flavour - the amaretto cream was beautiful. These get a definite GBD thumbs up.

BRAND LINKS

Marks & Spencer Website - Food and Wine Page

Marks & Spencer Twitter

OUT AND ABOUT: Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour

Like so many, Christmas officially begun for me the other day whilst watching TV. Indeed, for the first time this year, I saw Coca-Cola's iconic truck advert roll on to screen. Admittedly, with all the editing, today's advert feels tragically short; however, I still can't help myself being carried away on a festive wave of nostalgia.  

Here's one of the advert's longer versions:

Of course, the appeal of this advert is something shared by many the world over and, mindful of this, Coca-Cola have transformed their truck in to a true marketing sensation. One such example of this is the 'Truck Tour' in which the vehicle stops by select UK destinations for people to come and see it. 

Luckily, one destination is my local town and with the truck stopping by yesterday I popped down as it started to get dark for the full effect. Accompanying the truck were Coca-Cola representatives handing out drinks, a free photo stand for youngsters and singers belting out Christmas tunes, including 'Holidays are coming'. With the town also lit up for Christmas and a few other things going on it was great fun and I'm sure a particularly memorable moment for all the children out with their families.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took:

BRAND LINKS
Coca-Cola UK Website
Coca-Cola UK Twitter

LIMITED EDITION PRODUCT: Walkers Sensations Thicker Cut Crisps Cheese with Sweet Cranberry

Launching back in 2002, Sensations hit the shelves as Walkers 'posh' crisps. Since then, the likes of the Caramelised Onions and Balsamic Vinegar offering have become a popular feature in the GBD household with a bag or two invariably tucked in to over the festive period. Therefore, when I spotted this limited edition cheese and cranberry combination the other day I was more than intrigued to see how it measured up. 

I was immediately impressed by the packaging's design. I loved the festive-looking curls of green and red circles accenting both the top and bottom of the packet - presumably signifying a cranberry bush. The central graphic burst with colour and, together with the gold-coloured Christmas tree motif, made for a particularly elegant and visually-arresting design. The packaging's reverse also sported a nice design down the left-hand side with graphics picked up from the front and well thought out text complementing the ensemble beautifully. Top marks on this.

As for the crisps themselves, well, unfortunately, this is where the product fell flat on its face for me. In my head, the flavour combination sounded great and, based on past experiences, I expected some good quality flavours; however, to be frank, these tasted like a cheap packet of cheese crisps. Indeed, the cranberry was a bit lost on me and the cheese flavour was rather too reminiscent of Quavers - something you don't want when paying for a more expensive packet of crisps. 

All in all, the packaging's design was top notch but, with a cheap tasting cheese powder flavour, the crisps failed completely to deliver the quality expected of a brand like this. A disappointment.

CHRISTMAS PACKAGING: Colman's Sauce

In another very quick look at some festive packaging doing the rounds, I spotted these lovely traditional designs from iconic brand Colman's. Featuring snow-covered scenery, the mint and seafood sauce artwork directly picks up on the key ingredient whilst the horseradish is a little more subtle. Personally, I'm particularly fond of the mint sauce with its robin but these are all really nice and a welcome sight.

Here's a closer look at these limited edition designs:

BRAND LINKS

Colman's Website

NEW PRODUCT: Warburtons Giant Crumpets

In a way, this entire post is a testament to the power of advertising. Indeed, thanks to the advert come Muppets extravaganza currently doing the rounds (see here), Warburtons have rocketed the humble crumpet back in to the forefront of my mind. More than that, they've actually made me excited about what is, essentially, just a beefed up version of an existing product. Indeed, with social media lighting up with praise under the hashtag '#GiantCrumpets', Kermit and friends have given this offering a far greater significance than its jumbo dimensions could've ever hoped for. With that in mind, let's take a look.  

First off, the packaging blends in with the Warburtons general look with the vibrant orange and yellow colour scheme setting off the white brand name prominently. I was a little surprised that Muppets imagery didn't show up anywhere as it would've helped capitalise further on what I'm sure will prove a very lucrative partnership. That said, with the success of the advert, who knows what Warburtons will look to do.

With respect to the crumpet itself, it fitted nicely within the toaster allowing for easy cooking. Taking inspiration from the lead recipe on the Warburtons website (see here), I decided to whip up a savory dish with eggs and bacon - I didn't have any ham. The crumpet was, well, as lovely as crumpets usually are. The exterior was nice and crisp whilst the interior provided a pleasant chewy come fluffy contrast. Moreover, thanks to its wonderfully hole-ridden structure, the butter was well absorbed providing a luscious, rich experience throughout. 

All in all, a delicious alternative to a slice of toast or an English muffin that does what it says on the tin, namely, provide more of what we already love. 

BRAND LINKS

Warburtons Website

Warburtons Twitter

Warburtons Facebook

NOSTALGIA HIT: 90's Tetley Tea Folk

For all those having a tough start to the week, take a moment to sit back and enjoy a well deserved cuppa with the Gaffer...

BRAND LINKS
Tetley Tea Website
Tetley Tea Twitter
Tetley Tea Facebook

LIMITED EDITION PACKAGING: Nestle Aero by Matthew Williamson

Admittedly, my knowledge of fashion is such that the packaging's reference to a 'Matthew Williamson' was entirely meaningless to me - then again I'm not the supposed 35-54 year old female target market. Googling, I found out that the man was a notable British fashion designer and the wrapper design was an update on his signature 'butterfly' print. Personally, I loved these snazzy redesigns. They remained loyal to the general Aero look whilst delivering boat loads of interest to reinvigorate shelf standout. Indeed, I can see these playing to an even broader age range than that suggested. 

A definite thumbs up to Nestle on this one. Here are the designs in full:

BRAND LINKS

Nestle UK Website

Aero UK Website

Aero UK Facebook

NEWS: The Muppets deliver advertising gold for Warburtons

Christmas is often a good time for advertising as even if there isn't a good new ad there's always timeless classics like the Coca-Cola truck advert to look forward to. Of course, in recent years John Lewis has delivered the goods most consistently with its hallmark sentimentality. However, with this year's 'Man on the Moon' creative missing the mark for many, there's been opportunity for someone else to step in. Well, the bakery company Warburtons, not exactly the first brand I think of for advertising, have not only stolen the limelight but well and truly blown everyone else out the water. 

In a rather unexpected but bizarrely glorious tie-up, Kermit and friends sell Giant Crumpets like no crumpets have ever been sold before. Indeed, launching in to song with 'The Giant Crumpet Show' the advert beams with the charm and joy that people want, perhaps, more than ever with everything that has gone on recently. To be honest, this feels like an instant classic to me and one of the best pieces of advertising for years. Massive congratulations to Warburtons - this is a genuine pleasure to watch.

Anyway, enough of me talking. Sit back and enjoy the show...

BRAND LINKS
Warburtons Website
Warburtons Twitter
Warburtons Facebook

OUT AND ABOUT: Greggs Festive Bake

I was out and about in my local town centre yesterday and just before I hopped in the car to scoot back home I thought I would pop in to Greggs to see what festive offerings they were serving up. Their tasty sounding Christmas wrap was sold out but looking at the counter I was delighted to see their Festive Bake had returned. With Greggs Steak Bake being a guilty pleasure of mine, I remember trying this festive alternative and being really quite taken by it. To that end, I was more than eager to see if this year's version lived up to the memory. 

First off, I should say that the staff member serving me was full of smiles and really made for a warm and welcome experience so top marks go to Greggs Penrith on service. Moreover, in what I thought made for a nice touch, my meal deal cup of tea came in jolly festive cup with a lovely warm red colour scheme. 

As for the bake, its festive paper bag sported a similarly red colour scheme complemented by an amusing Santa beard and hashtag.  Removing the packaging, and barring the dent I made in the top, I thought the product looked great. Indeed, the pastry was beautifully golden with a nice crispy look to it - I actually thought it looked better than the product shot.  

Moving on to the taste, the smell of the sage stuffing was more than apparent and certainly whetted my appetite. Biting in, this smell translated to the palette with the sage bounding through on a glorious wave of creamy sauce punctuated by occasional chunks of meaty chicken breast and sweet bursts of cranberry. Yes, perhaps in an ideal world, I would have liked more chicken and, admittedly, the strips of bacon were a bit lost on me. That said, for the price and the relatively small parcel they're trying to cram all these ingredients in to, Greggs gets top marks from me again on this one. That sage stuffing is a triumph.

Warm, tasty fare that is sure to get you in the festive spirit. Pity it's around for a limited time only.

BRAND LINKS

Greggs Website

Greggs Twitter

Greggs Facebook

BLOG & WEBSITE NEWS

Not being a website designer or social media expert by any stretch of the imagination, GBD has been a fun but steep learning curve for me where I feel I have got some things right and a lot of things not so right. With the extra time to invest in all of this now I am really keen to organise things and get out a lot more content. In particular, I want to re-explore the Blogger spin-off given the platform's social tools and ability to greatly expedite things for me.

To that end, from here on in, I'll be posting shorter, much more frequent posts on the GBD blog centred on new products, redesigns, news and general of-the-moment stuff. In the style of the 'brand evolution' articles I have already published, the GBD website will complement things now and then by focusing on classic British brands and foods.

Hope that all makes sense.

CHRISTMAS PACKAGING: Kellogg's Corn Flakes

With Christmas adverts doing the rounds and lots on tempting goodies on shelves, we're fast approaching merry December. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Kellogg's have rolled out some limited edition Christmas packaging for four of its classic offerings. The children's cereals, Frosties, Coco Pops and Rice Krispies, are all bright and fun with their respective mascots donning Santa hats in front of Christmas tree-decorated backgrounds. 

That said, most interesting of all is the more traditional packaging for Corn Flakes given that it completely breaks with the cereal's usual look. A lovely, traditional-looking depiction of Santa by Norman Rockwell features front and centre against a snowy white background. In a couple of other touches, one of the side panels includes the full words to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and the bottom panel sports a nicely condensed version of the primary graphic. Indeed, the packaging is eye catching, hits the right tone for this most iconic of cereals and links in well with the brand's classic Santa Claus advert - soon to appear on screens I'm sure. Anyway, having picked up a box, here's all the pictures of the design:

BRAND LINKS
Kellogg's UK Website
Kellogg's UK Twitter