Ruby chocolate is flying off UK shelves
This week saw the UK launch of the much-heralded ruby chocolate, which has finally made its way to Europe, after its grand launch in Shanghai last September.
Its manufacturers, Barry Callebaut, have chosen Nestlé as its first commercial partners, with the new pink coloured variety being released as a four-fingered KitKat pack.
The product gained an exclusive general retail deal with Tesco, and judging by my own unsuccessful efforts to track it down in a couple of stores so far, it is very much flying off the shelves.
According to some particularly helpful staff, the ruby KitKats have indeed proved a hit with customers, who have been eager to sample what has been asserted as the fourth official type of chocolate.
This in itself is particularly big news, with it being many decades since the acknowledgement of white chocolate referenced as an entirely new category for the market.
While I may have missed out so far on the KitKat tasting, I have had the opportunity to try ruby chocolate last year – it’s a pleasant taste that is somewhere between white and berry flavoured, and it has so far gained positive reviews from its launch in Asia.
Whether it succeeds quite so well here in Europe, only time will tell, but it seems Barry Callebaut has also struck another deal with luxury store Fortnum and Mason in London for ruby flavoured products including standard chocolate bars, hot chocolate, and truffles.
Here’s hoping that you have better luck than I have so far in getting your hands on some!
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