The new brand, Mickey’s DeLight, has been developed by the Dublin-based Babco Europe and will be distributed in the UK by Proof Drinks.
It was inspired by the success of the Mickey Finn Whipped Chocolate variant that was launched last year.
The concept is “your favourite chocolate bar in a bottle,” said Proof Drinks MD James McDermott.
The drinks are made from a blend of chocolate, alcohol and whipped cream with four flavours comprising: Tiramisu, French vanilla, coffee & cream; chocolate, raspberry ripple & vanilla; chocolate, fruit & nut, and chocolate, honeycrisp & caramel.
Favourite flavours
“Initial trade tastings on Mickey’s DeLight have proved very positive, and we are targeting an early 2014 launch for the UK,” said McDermott.
“We are now trying to decide which particular flavours to go with and exhibited at The BBC Good Food Show earlier this month to crowdsource ideas on this, as well as get real consumer reactions to our first set of Mickey’s DeLight flavours.”
Cream of the crop
Three weeks ago Global Brands gave its Thorntons Chocolate liqueur a new “brighter” look to make it more noticeable on back bars and to boost sales outside of the key Valentines, Mother’s Day and Christmas selling periods.
In August Diageo launched a posh version of category leader Baileys – Baileys Chocolat Luxe, a blend of Belgian chocolate and Irish whiskey. It is being supported with a £5.5m marketing spend through the key Christmas selling period.
Cream liqueurs are currently outperforming total spirits by 8%, benefiting from the growth in cocktails (CGA).