From wasabi Kit-Kats to Haw Balls

Haw Balls, Pinkish Jambus and some Zui Zhi San Zha Tom Yam Tus. It’s become bit of a challenge here at Team: who can bring the weirdest sweets back from a trip. Our clients are scattered all over the world and we end up going to some weird and wonderful places for meetings and to run HF research sessions. We’ve had wasabi-flavoured Kit-Kats from Japan, Drop from the Netherlands (the strongest liquorice known to mankind) and I’ve recently been given some Bitafiskur – a ‘tasty’ dried fish snack from Iceland… mmmm, yummy?

So the relevance of all this? It’s a great reminder of the different tastes that we develop depending on our cultural background. What’s a treat for kids on one side of the globe would receive a disapproving sneer and be scribed as ‘yucky’ on the other. The packaging is also worth looking at, demonstrating the appeal of different visual languages to different consumer groups. All good inspiration when considering how to develop products that appeal to an increasingly universal market.

Anyways must dash, I have a packet of peanut butter Reese’s Pieces to tuck into, which have just arrived from the US.