Outward Bound benefits from new launch
HUBBARD FOODS continues to raise money for good causes as it launches three new breakfast cereals.
Outward Bound and Hubbard have a long-standing fund-raising relationship which will be furthered by the recent release of a new Outward Bound cereal, Power 8. The highenergy Outward Bound range of breakfast cereals will see the berry flavour deleted in favour of Power 8, a number-eight-shaped cereal that is suited to all-day snacking and able to be eaten straight from the box.
“We are targeting your everyday consumer who wants to get out there, be active and needs some energy to do that,” explains Hubbard Foods brand manager Mike Tohill. “It has eight key ingredients and we’ve come up with eight occasions to eat it, so it all ties in nicely!”
A percentage of each box of Power 8 sold (and the Outward Bound Original) goes to the Outward Bound Trust, the charitable trust which aims to educate through outdoor experience. Well over $1 million dollars has been raised to date by Hubbard’s.
Outward Bound chief executive officer Trevor Taylor described the relationship in a previous press release: “Initiatives like the Outward Bound cereal launched by Hubbard’s have played a key part in providing much needed funds to the Trust. All those years ago when the relationship was put in place, the Trust never realised what a big part simply eating a breakfast cereal could play in funding the organisation.”
In addition, Hubbard Foods employees are raising money for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation by participating in ‘Shave 09’. 15 workers from both Hubbards and Twin
Agencies – 14 men (including Tohill) and one woman – raised around $7,500 by shaving their heads on March 13, along with raffles, BBQs and auctions. Hubbard’s matched all the funds, making a total donation of nearly $15,000.
This is part of a long tradition of generosity by Hubbard Foods, with owner and founder Dick Hubbard a proponent of socially responsible business practices. Along with these practices, it is of course essential that the company also turns a profit and Tohill says that they are always looking for ways to capture more market share in the cereal aisle through innovation and looking for gaps in the market.
“The cereal market as a whole is growing,” Tohill says. “With the biscuit category growing particularly well, along with oats, value added, speciality and staples. We thought staples would grow considerably faster than the total category due to the economy, but it’s growing at about the same rate.
“Specialty areas such as gluten-free and wheat-free are growing, with the kids’ segment flat and therefore slower than the rest of the category. There’s some innovation in the kids’ cereals, but not a lot of late.”
Tohill adds that about 65% of the children’s cereal market is chocolate flavoured, but until now Hubbard’s didn’t have a product to compete with those. Now, though, it is now releasing its new chocolate cereal for kids, Big Bugs ’n’ Mud. It’s an effort to combine the popular chocolatey flavour with the goodness of wholegrains and the crunch that kids love. “It’s 39% wholegrains, with fibre, vitamins, iron and folate,” says Tohill. “So parents can be reassured that there’s goodness in it. It’s also clusters, which are easy to snack on and give a crunch that kids love, while turning the milk chocolatey.” Hubbard Foods is also releasing Oat Sachets this month, a convenient porridge in a larger 50g serving.
AMY HAMILTON
