The chocolate producer develops ready-to-go private label brands for retailers who have not yet developed their own – the Tiger countline is one of its chocolate-covered wafer bars.
Production on the latest nut variant for the South African market will start in the coming weeks, it said. The Tiger Nut bars are made using peanuts, caramel and puffed rice on milk chocolate covered wafer.
The bars have been developed predominantly for retailers in the country, said Elisabet Lopez de Bergara, marketing and innovation manager at Natra.
However, she added: “We may sign exclusivity agreements of the product depending on the market and the customer.”
Booming demands from South Africa
South Africa is the target for the international launch as it is one of the biggest markets for this kind of countline, Lopez de Bergara said.
“We consider that our product has a big potential in the South African market due to the high demand we have received from our customers. The combination of wafer, caramel, rice and peanut is very appreciated in South Africa,” she said.
Frost & Sullivan forecasts suggest that the $544.6bn South African chocolate market will grow 10% each year, over the next five – up to $3bn by 2017.
However, Frost & Sullivan analyst Sarah O’Carroll said growth will be predominantly driven by premium in a very consolidated market.
Despite the South African focus, Natra has also received interest from the Middle East and Australia for the new chocolate bar, it said.
“The combination of ingredients has been key in the interest from our customers in the Middle East, as it is very much in line with their tastes but not so easy to produce,” Lopez de Bergara said.
Strategy to deepen private label and end products
Natra’s business is split between industrial goods – like cocoa butter, powder and coatings – which makes up 25% and consumer goods – like finished product countlines, mainly for private label.
It recently struck a deal in Canada to rent a production facility that it said should double its private label sales within three years.