Is it April 1st  already? On hearing about Warburton’s latest innovation I must admit I had to check my calender.

So what is the next big thing from the UK’s number one bakery brand – well it’s unsliced wrapped bread of course.

And according to the website “Talking Retail” it is not as odd as it might sound:

“The new loaves are available in 600g Tiger White and 600g Tiger Brown and will enable retailers to take advantage of the popularity of in store bakery products whilst driving additional sales. The range will offer consumers delicious products with that just-baked taste, but with longer lasting freshness”

Being a chocoholic I can never stop myself from strolling along the chocolate shelves. Most recently, when yet again in the mood for chocolate, I came across these two new products by Malteaser and Kit Kat:

Kit Kat just simply sticking a bunny on their chocolate bar – sweet – yet low cost, low impact!?

Whereas MaltEaster did something a tiny bit more clever by changing name and product format, which put a smile on my face.  A lovely example of how to tweak a product.

There appears to be a big fan club for Playmobil here at The Value Engineers, as it received quite a few nominations from the team. As with many toy brands there is a very sizeable adult collector market for Playmobil which beyond collecting in its own right, manifests itself in online war gaming and movie making communities. This is another great example of a kids brand that allows adults to regress to simpler times of unbridled imagination and permissive play time.

“My favourite kids’ brand is Playmobil. I had endless fun as a youngster setting up the Playmobil farmyard, Playmobil hospital and Playmobil school! Its such a fun brand which encourages imagination and creativity. And all the miniature parts that you get in the sets are fascinating! We used to pool our Playmobil with our cousins and build a Playmobil Island! It never got boring and we all enjoyed it, boys girls and all ages. For years we’d do this everytime we all met up and I vividly remember how much fun it was! Recently we had some toys in the office for a workshop and there was a Playmobil Ancient Egyptian set. I wanted to take it out and set it up.” Rebecca Gaul, Consultant

 ”Playmobil: I am amazed at the level of detail that goes into a playmobil toy and have massively fond memories of being given a camper van set when I was little. It was the only set I ever had and I loved it. Despite asking for more year after year, all I saw was more Lego!” Guy Grimsley, Consultant