Ferrero Rocher is leaning into indulgence with its new chocolate bars.

According to the chocolate and confectionery brand, which also just shook up the on-the-go snack space with a new Nutella-based bar, the premium chocolate category in Canada is over $230 million and growing. And with its success in seasonal gifting and sharing items, the company wants to make inroads in the everyday premium category in a format that’s relevant to Canadians.

“We have an iconic, well-recognized and trusted brand, and we’ve been able to capture what makes our pralines so unique – layers of taste and textures – into an everyday premium chocolate bar,” says Maureen Romansky, senior marketing director, premium chocolate, Ferrero North America. “This launch reinforces our competitive position in Canada.”

SKUs being introduced include dark hazelnut and salted caramel, dark hazelnut, milk hazelnut and white hazelnut. A campaign is being supported at shelf and on display across all major retailers, in flyers and online.

This includes tribute pages in flyer, and signage at shelf across all key retailers featuring clip strips allowing product placement in multiple areas of the store, wobblers and shelf strips to drive strong visibility. There’s also an omnichannel campaign to drive instore purchase at Walmart – shelf blades in all stores, sponsored product on Walmart.ca to strategically showcase bars to shoppers actively browsing and buying, targeted digital ads and PDQs on a branded four-way panels in high traffic area of store.

Romansky tells strategy that when it comes to on pack considerations, Ferrero Rocher is known as a premium chocolate, so it was important to link back to the iconic golden pyramid of Ferrero Rocher that is so recognizable around the world.

“It was also important to showcase the unique dome on the squares, which pays homage to the distinctive shape of our iconic Ferrero Rocher praline,” Romansky says, adding that the confectionery also wanted consumers to see that the bar was composed of layers of smooth chocolate, creamy filling, and crunchy hazelnut pieces, with strong flavour and ingredient callouts.

Romansky says its focus is in the confectionery aisle, where it knows its target consumer is looking for something self-indulgent and rewarding.

The new Ferrero Rocher bars are designed for adults who are between 30 and 40, who are those “sophisticated indulgers” that know, and want, quality chocolate.

The company is “investing significantly” in these bars, already a European success story, and whose development included trialing over 300 recipes.

This is reflected in paid social that started this month – and then TV, social, digital and sampling coming in September.

According to Romansky, Ferrero’s shopper, customer, and brand marketing teams worked together to ensure that it has the right visibility and tools in-store to drive awareness.