In the wake of last week’s revelation that Allen’s would bring back the discontinued green frog and spearmint leaves jelly sweets, parent company Nestle remains tight-lipped about the promotion.
A 7 News report last week revealed the sweets manufacturer would set up a pop-up store in Sydney’s Martin Place during the month leading up to Christmas.
C&I Week approched Nestle for comment, however a spokesperson said the company wasn’t ready to talk about the promotion, despite the earlier report from 7 News. C&I Week understands that the pop-up store will be a temporary outlet for the beloved green frogs and spearmint leaves, the withdrawal of which caused uproar on social media last year.
The two product lines, which were among the sweet-tooth staples in corner delis, swimming pools and milk bars around the nation for decades, were discontinued in mid-2015 following depressed sales of the verdant jellies.
At the time Allen’s spokesperson Margaret Stuart said red frogs had been outselling green frogs at a ratio of 10 to one.
KITKAT launches permanent store
In other news, Nestle launched its first ever permanent Kitkat store, the Kitkat Chocolatory, at the Melbourne Central shopping centre.
The new store allows customers to create their own personalised Kitkat chocolate bar, with exotic flavours such as stone ground maccha, almond nougat and toasted coconut.
Launched on October 21, the store uses 100 per cent UTZ certified chocolate.
Shangri-La Sydney executive pastry chef Anna Polyviou has produced a series of limited edition flavours that will be available in store over the coming months, and said she was excited to collaborate with the Kitkat brand.
“I had the honour and creative freedom to come up with some wicked creation,” she said.
“Inspired by the streets of Melbourne, they combine amazing flavours and my signature graffiti to make them truly limited edition.”
Nestlé Australia’s Head of Marketing for Confectionery, Anna Stewart, said the company was delighted to mark the launch of Australia’s first Kitkat “Chocolatory” with the collaboration, which also includes Melbourne street artist Dvate.
“As people become more creative with what they eat, we are continually looking for ways to innovate and reinvent the traditional brand,” she said.
“Working with Dvate and Anna, who are famous for their individuality and artistic talent, is a fitting way to unveil our first permanent location here.
“Our previous Kitkat Studio pop ups were a huge hit with the Australian public, so it was a natural evolution to create a permanent store where people could unleash their creativity and create personalised flavours.
“With its reputation as a creative hub for food and art, launching the store in Melbourne was the perfect choice.”
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Allens, about time the green frogs came back, as far as we are concerned the green frogs are better than the red ones.
But in saying that, the red frogs are really great, so the two of them side by side is going to make which one to take home a hard choice.
It looks like we will be buying two packets in the future