Whittaker’s launches its next blast from the past

Chocolate maker Whittaker’s is reinventing another old favourite in the Kiwi lexicon of sweets – this time its own Toffee Milk bar.

The Porirua-based manufacturer has launched a limited edition of the sweet, featuring toffee milk pieces combined with its own milk chocolate in 50-gram bars and 250g blocks.

Whittaker’s latest creation follows a string of chocolate products that have been paired up with Kiwi favourites including L&P and K Bars.

Not to be outdone, rival Cadbury retorted with Jaffa and Apple Crumble chocolate blocks, and concern was high about the fate of Pineapple Lumps and Jaffas when it was announced last month that the Dunedin Cadbury factory would close.

More generally, marketers say there is big business in childhood favourites which is why there has been a public outcry over the loss of New Zealand staples such as Snifters, Sparkles and Pascall’s Licorice Allsorts.

Public relations expert Sue Allen said nostalgia evokes powerful memories which consumers will pay good money to recapture. ‘‘From a marketing perspective, exploiting nostalgia makes a lot of sense. If your content can evoke feelings of nostalgia, it will also make people feel good.’’

Toffee Milks belong to Whittaker’s, which created them in the 1930s.

‘‘So extending the concept is a natural step,’’ the company’s assistant marketing manager, Jasmine Currie, said.

Whittaker’s has also commissioned a Wairarapa company to build a horse-drawn cart, similar to one used by its early founders.

Samples of the chocolate bars were distributed from the cart yesterday in Auckland but the rest of the country will have to wait until they hit retailers’ shelves on May 1.