New to Australian shelves, a Cadbury & More chocolate block range launched in the UK in 2024. After success there, the stylish range hits our shores with some reimagining of the & More' branding and with it a brand new block format (!). New formats are of great value to us as consumers, but expensive to implement on the production side. So, from the outside this indicates Cadbury has really gotten behind the new range, providing a much needed dose of actual ‘new’ to the chocolate aisle.
Roasted hazelnuts. So much a part of modern chocolate and dessert ranges, that they can feel a bit tired.
More interesting perhaps, a recent archaelogical find on some of the many small islands off the coast of mainland Scotland known collectively as The Hebrides (a Norse name meaning ‘islands on the edge of the sea’) found evidence of Stone Age humans in Scotland roasting hazelnuts in what we would call mass production.
Hundreds of thousands of the charred shells of this plant food were found together in pits, carbon dated to 6000 BCE.
Rather than 8000 year old Scot predecessors running the world’s first confectionary conglomerate, it seems the practice was originally used to allow the grinding of the nuts into a paste, saving huge amounts of room and enabling the concentrating of caloric energy in a much denser form for transport.
That last part sound familiar?
Will Cadbury’s latest take on harnessing the energy of the incredibly long lived hazelnut have as much of an impact on the human race as these Hebridean nuts once did? Today, we will find out.
Positioning / Trend
Cadbury’s attempts at more premium positioned products (think Lindt and Ferrero as the established brands in that spot) have historically fallen flat. Either not premium-feeling enough, or just not eating great, the market leader’s attempts to extend market share into the more niche premium space have time and again been left strewn across the battlefield.
With Cadbury & More (apart from a naff name), the Purple Don has loaded the range with it’s complete arsenal: a suite of higher-end on-trend-dessert-inspired flavours (Creme Brulee, Tiramasu, Raspberry Cheesecake, Hazelnut Praline, Macadamia), dairy milk AND marble AND caramilk shells, higher quality soft fillings and nicely designed premium crunch inclusions.
Can Hazelnut Praline earn a place in premium chocolate block glory?! Let’s find out.
Looks / Design
First impressions of the range left me thinking “oh, they’ve gone and done it again” - another attempt at the premium market that’s off the mark. The pack design should be lauded for trying something different, but the tone of the colours felt off to me, and the strange name, and as the blocks are rounded at the sides the graphic design of the Cadbury brand name is cut off - making it initially hard to tell what this even is, added up to an uneasy first look.
The kind of Shrek-ish green of the pack is a bit nasty for me, although it does help it stand out on the shelf. The large piece of bisected chocolate on the front of pack also gives me a troll-ish feeling, the small crumbles of Hazelnut easily take the form of a gnarled set of teeth of a mythical monster, or also on the green theme - I’m reminded of Yoda’s charming gnarled teeth in the original trilogy films.
As noted in the Creme Brulee review (read it here), in a mirror to the front of pack situation, the attention to detail on the inside of the pack is gorgeous, with the range using a beautiful reflective foil in royal purple with gold detailing.
New moulding alert! Next, you notice the block has a completely unique design, with pleasing curves, patterns in the surface of the chocolate, and best of all it does this while also working functionally: you can break the rows and squares off neatly. Something not all new block designs manage to do.
Dissection
Bite through the curved chocolate bit, and we have less going on than in some of the others in the range. Here, that is a good thing. A generous, thick layer of (actually great tasting) Hazelnut Praline filling takes up almost the entirety of the bulbous chocolate piece. The remaining space inside has some crunch factor on top, with goldilocks-sized Hazelnut pieces that feel, you guessed it - just right.
The block is nice and thick on the base and thick enough on the top outer layer to combine for a nice ‘snap’ when cracking off a row, without any crushing of the top layer.
The Eat
Hazelnut and hazelnut praline in particular generally generate in me a yawn when I see them in products now. Super common. I really appreciate the flavour combination, and it is amazing how well they go together - but pralines can suck in their execution often times, and when I say I want new products, I don’t love seeing the same things done again and again in different ways.
But, bite into this one, and BANG! Really great hazelnut flavour, and while we won’t hand it to them all the time, Cadbury’s line that the extra weight and increased price was required to deliver on the vision for the eat of these products does really come through when eating this. It could have been another ho-hum hazelnut praline, but again, the balance between the quantity of ingredients is excellent and does feel generous as you eat it. The flavour is great, but this feeling of generosity does elevate this product and I wonder if they have tapped into a different element of luxury in the premium chocolate space that the incumbents are weak in?
Lindt and Ferrero have excelled in delicacy and minimalism. Exquisite execution in chocolate flavour and in-the-mouth consistency, in smaller, refined portions. Here, Cadbury proposes to us another form of luxury, decadence.
To explain the distinction here as an analogy, compare the interior of a new Volvo - austere, hard clean lines, beautiful but stripped back - to the excess of soft-to-touch padded leather lining of all surfaces including the dashboard and roof lining of a Range Rover. Both embody luxury, but expressed in opposing ways.
The larger physical dimensions of each individual piece of these blocks combined with the high-level execution in the eat - so far (I’m two flavours in) - are encouraging me to believe we may be witnessing Cadbury finally delivering in premium. They might just go and take the market gap no one was talking about.
Opinion: Fun / New / Innovative?
This block is an excellent execution. Is it an example of fun or newness? Not in the straightforward sense.
At it’s core, this is a really old idea done really well.
One angle of newness to consider though, is the approach to the premium chocolate market. Could a new path of opulence and decadence be carved through this refined and austere valley?
Can Cadbury continue to execute at this high a level consistently enough to maintain a foothold or even expand premium chocolate in this new way? Or will other challengers see this entry and be inspired to deliver with this form of luxury?
Do the higher RRPs driven originally by rising cocoa prices and then general inflation, help create a new environment for innovation that supports this decadent lane - not only by opening the door for more inclusions in the cost of production, but also psychologically by establishing a more rare occasion for chocolate in the mind of the consumer, justified and actually enhanced by the higher purchase price?
Overall
I really like this idea of a new angle into premium chocolate for the market. I wonder what could follow if the idea survives competitive realities.
I also really enjoyed eating this one, the flavours and experience are really high quality - it’s just great chocolate.
While everything can’t be wild and crazy, and commercially I can see why this variety got it’s spot, as a person who loves innovation and writing about products in this light, I can’t get super excited about the flavour choice.
But if it does it’s job and has strong sales due to being a popular flavour combination, which in turn keeps the new range alive and supports fresher creations in the future - I’m all for it.
