NEW PRODUCT: M&S 'Taste of the British Isles' British Treat Cakes

Strolling around my local M&S the other day I happened on this newly launched offering consisting of six dainty cakes. Made in the UK and falling under M&S's 'Taste of the British Isles' promotion, I was quickly sold on the joyfulness of the presentation. Admittedly, I did wonder for a second whether they would end up looking better than they tasted but, with their tried-and-tested combinations of ingredients, I thought I was probably on safe ground.

Presentation-wise, as already alluded to, I liked these a lot. The cakes looked fun and the large area of clear plastic allowed them to be shown off well. The card packaging that was employed sported white type with relatively low stroke weight to give a sense of refinement, whilst serif font added a touch of sophistication. Moreover, smart photography accented the design nicely and helped reinforce the idea of a quality product made with real ingredients.

As for the taste, well I started off with the Cherry and Almond Bakewell. Biting in, a beautiful almond flavour came through that was neither too mild nor too strong. The cherry provided a welcome textural contrast whilst the buttercream seemed to work well in bringing together the flavours. Not a bad start at all. 

Second up was the Summer Berry Eton Mess. The sponge was flavoured with what, according to the packaging, was a product of concentrated fruit juices (strawberry, cherry, raspberry and blackberry). The red berries were particularly evident and, on reflection, these flavours could have been more pronounced but, still, it was all very pleasant. The meringue component wasn't overdone in quantity and, again, provided welcome textural contrast with the buttercream bringing everything together on the palate. 

Lastly, the Dark Chocolate and Orange. Akin to a Jaffa Cake, some orange-flavoured jelly hid under the top chocolate layer; indeed, just the smell of this offering reminded me of McVitie's famous creation. Suspecting I would enjoy what I tasted, I merrily tucked in and I have to say it was as delightful as imagined with well balanced measures of dark chocolate and orange carried along by the sponge layers beautifully. 

All in all, the cakes were fun in presentation, their individual components were well proportioned and the core flavours, whilst nothing remarkable, are one's many palates will take great comfort in. For me, the chocolate and orange probably just pipped the others to post simply because I'm a sucker for the flavour combination but, to be honest, I enjoyed all the cakes. A big GBD thumbs up to M&S on this one and a definite recommend.

NEW PRODUCT: Loughnane's Guinness Sausages

Some things I feel we do worse now than in the past; however, the Great British sausage isn't one of them. Indeed, there has been a marked increase in quality over recent times with a number of new premium brands becoming widely available.  Admittedly, with a superb local butchers at hand I rarely feel compelled to indulge in other offerings; however, yesterday I was swayed by a Guinness sausage from the family-run Irish company, Loughnane's.

I don't know if other Loughnane's products have been on my supermarket's shelves before but, if they have been, I've never really fully registered the brand. That said, in a testament to packaging design, this product's smart employment of the Guinness branding did a fabulous job at gaining my attention as I wandered the aisle. Indeed, the trademark black and white Guinness aesthetic along with the gold picked out of the drink's classic harp logo, created a nicely differentiated presentation on shelf. Moreover, with the design not overly cluttered and the aforementioned Guinness branding incorporated consistently, the offering's valuable tie-in was clearly identifiable from a relatively good distance away in store. 

Getting the sausages out of the packet I did like seeing all the green flecks of leek suggesting the brand had used a healthy dose of the ingredient. Moreover, I thought the sausages were a decent size, not too big nor too small, and, once cooked, presented well on the plate alongside the classic mash and veg.  

Moving on to the taste, I firstly have to say my expectations weren't great as I've tasted other beer-based foodstuffs before and been left wondering what, if anything, the drink added. That said, I dug in to these sausages and I'll say right now that I was pretty excited by what I tasted. 

Whilst I don't think I would have been clever enough to attribute the flavour precisely to Guinness in a blind test taste, I have to say the stout's character was delightfully noticeable. Of course, the natural sweetness of the leeks came through but, moving past that, there was a fabulous depth of character to this offering. Personally, I thought a malty flavour was evident along with a hint of the drink's bitter, earthy quality. In any case, what I do know for sure was that this offering was an unexpected yet delightful taste experience which more than intrigued the palate. 

Overall, the packaging was spot on with the Guinness branding delivering an eye-catching design. Moreover, the sausages were superb with the drink's depth of character actually coming through. My hat is well and truly off to Loughnane's on this one - I'll be stocking up and looking forward to other products from them. 

BRAND LINKS

Loughnane's Website

Loughnane's Facebook

Guinness UK Website

NEW PRODUCTS: Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Brown and Red Sauce

Brown sauce or red sauce? It's a divisive question with many Brits firmly falling on one side or the other. Personally, forced to choose, I would have to go with brown sauce; however, I do appreciate both - you certainly wouldn't catch me eating a fish finger sandwich without the liberal application of ketchup. To that end, I've kept an open mind about Burton's new Fish 'n' Chips products which pitch these two mighty accompaniments against one another in savoury biscuit form.

Adorned in the brand's classic 80's newspaper-inspired livery, I'll get straight to it and say that these look great. Opening the multi-pack reveals five very sweet, miniature packets - somewhat evocative of the old Mini Cheddars bags in size. Whilst, thanks to that newspaper design, the packaging artwork is full of the charm and interest that made this brand so memorable in the first place. As for the look of the snacks themselves, they're fun too with the biscuits sporting rudimentary yet effective fish and chip forms. Brilliant stuff that speaks for itself.

Taste-wise, the base snack sports a reasonably thick frame with a light biscuit texture that's pretty distinctive. With regards to the brown sauce flavour, the key ingredient is prominent with a definite taste of vinegar bounding through to ensure the snack can't be accused of blandness. Given its acidity, I can't say it's the brown sauce flavour I'm most accustomed to, that is, HP or Daddies Sauce; however, it's consistent with other brands I've tried in the past.

Moving on to the tomato ketchup variant, once again, this flavour isn't on the fence with tomato very much identifiable. That said, yet again, I can't say the flavour is totally reminiscent of the sauce I'm most used to, Heinz ketchup. Indeed, the tomato in these biscuits is actually less synthetic tasting with much more of the vegetable's flavour coming through. 

So which flavour did I like best and why? Well, I have to give it to brown sauce on this occasion. Whilst both products could have benefited from a touch of sweetness in my book, the tomato one was just a bit to tomatoey for my palate. 

Overall, these look superb and I'm impressed how Burton's have incorporated the flavour of the sauces so distinctly. For those that like a vinegary twang and/or a reasonably natural tasting tomato snack, I think these will be a particular winner. Oh, and if you do pick them up, be sure to vote for your favourite flavour on the brand's Facebook page - there's a chance of winning £10,000. 

BRAND LINKS

Burton's Website - Fish 'n' Chips Page

Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Facebook

Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Twitter

NOSTALGIA HIT: Shredded Wheat

Some classic ads again as James Bond's Jaws joins sporting legends, Botham, Clough and Charlton, in extolling the virtues of good old Shredded Wheat. Enjoy.






BRAND LINKS
Nestle Website - Shredded Wheat Page
Shredded Wheat UK Twitter

RETRO REVIVAL: McVitie's Trio

Big blast from the past time. Trio, a marriage of biscuit, toffee and chocolate originally manufactured by Jacob's, once again graces store shelves! The revival has come as a result of McVitie's - present owner of the Jacob's brand - giving in to what it described as "massive consumer demand". That said, it's only a limited edition return for this cult classic so I was keen to try it out to see if the 2016 version is worth stocking up on. 

Presentation-wise, the multi-pack design is instantly recognisable as it borrows straight from the late 80's/90's look. Indeed, the brand name typeface directly picks up on the advertising from yesteryear in which an animated girl called Suzy would shout 'Trio' repeatedly - if you're not familiar with this, see the end of this post. To be honest, on today's shelves the design still works really well with the loud presentation feeling sufficiently differentiated amongst the mass of competing offerings. 

Moving on to the design of the individual bars, the artwork condenses down really neatly and I am delighted by the use of paper. On the latter point, I've written about this before, but, generally, I really dislike brands use of plastic as the go-to option. I say this purely on aesthetic grounds as, for me, plastic just signals cheapness and mass production. On the other hand, glass, foil, paper, card etc generally make a product feel a bit more special and cared for - even if that isn't the case at all.

As for the look of the bar itself, there's no lack of character as it harks back to the original with three segments sporting an embossed 'Trio' brand name.

Taste-wise, I'm very glad to say the 2016 Trio hits the spot. Expecting an overly hefty dose of sugar to overwhelm the palate, I was delighted to find they've been pretty restrained. Indeed, the biscuit layer is really quite plain and the chocolate boasts nice milky, cocoa flavours rather than pure sweetness. All of this provides perfect support for the sweeter toffee cream layer creating a balanced and rather tasty offering.

In summary, these bars are a great throw back with a few modern temptations pleasingly avoided. Moreover, the bars taste great with all three layers adding something different whilst complementing one another. These get a definite GBD thumbs up from me. 

Oh, and on the advertising front it's worth mentioning that McVitie's are currently looking for people to feature in the bar's new ad. If you're interested, see here - you'll need to scroll down the page for details. That aside, this wouldn't be a retro revival post without indulging in some advertising nostalgia...

BRAND LINKS
McVitie's Website
McVitie's Twitter
United Biscuits Website - McVitie's Page