They disappeared from Australian shelves more than 10 years ago and finally they’re returning… but not just yet
A new company are launching the popular Australian chocolates in the US and then in Australia
The chocolates were taken off shelves in the early 2000s
Cadbury failed to launch the brand in the US in the late 90s as an agreement with creators was not reached
Yowie chocolates were created by best-selling authors Bryce Courtenay and Geoff Pike
The chocolates were one of Cadbury’s most successful brands
It’s been over 10 years since Yowie chocolates were seen on Australian shelves but the chocolates are being relaunched in America then heading back to Australia in 2019.
The Yowie characters were created by best-selling authors Bryce Courtenay and Geoff Pike in the early 1900s. The illustrations are the work of Australian artist Ted Blackall.
They each contained a toy and a message or story about keeping the environment clean.The Yowie mission statement is: ‘Save the natural world’.
Launched by Cadbury in 1995, Yowie sold 65 million units in Australia in its first year, before making the leap into the Asia-Pacific.
However it was a disagreement between Cadbury with Courtenay and Pike over the rights to sell the chocolates in America that led to the pull of the product from shelves.
Yowie Group chairman Wayne Loxton told ABC News that Yowie was a smash hit and ‘one of Cadbury’s most successful brands ever launched in the history of the company’.
The characters are based on the mythology surrounding the Australian Yowie which features in indigenous dream time stories.
Yowie outsold their biggest competitor, Kinder Surprise, “taking 30 per cent of the $80 million children’s confectionery market”, Foster Stockbroking’s Haris Khaliqi told ABC News.
Kinder Surprise is not approved for sale in the US markets as authorities have deemed its small toy a choking hazard. Unlike Kinder Surprise chocolates Yowie usually contains a small Australian or New Zealand native animal toy.
Yowie though, has received the only patent given by the US Food and Drug Administration for a chocolate-encased toy.
‘If distributing with the right retailers – it could get to the stage where there is potential to build a brand around it as well with ancillary products, merchandise and licensing,’ Mr Khaliqi said.
Yowie Group plans on relaunching the chocolates in the Australian market in 2019.
