2014 saw the launch of the Dairy Milk/Ritz chocolate bar hybrid. The chocolate bars would have four pieces of chocolate sandwiched between rectangular biscuits, and were due to go on sale in supermarkets over the coming months.
Mondelez International, which owns both the Cadbury and Ritz brands, says that the bringing together of savoury crackers and Dairy Milk was its biggest launch of the year.
Before the bars were distributed to stores all over the UK, Cadbury planned to do a special launch, giving consumers the opportunity to sample the product.
We were asked to store, fulfil and bulk-pack 500,000 of the completed items in readiness for the distribution to the lucky recipients. Each pack contained a single bar hand-inserted into a diamond flap envelope and sealed with two hand applied glue dots.
A team of 30 staff (pre-tested for willpower!) were trained and completed the job in just over two weeks. The team showed huge restraint enclosing all 500,000 quickly and accurately.
Several bars underwent an independent and rigorous quality assessment, in my office with a cup of tea standing witness, all passing with flying colours.
The rest made it into the required envelopes intact and ahead of time.
The product launch was a success and Mondelez International subsequently launched another key brand into the retail sector.
