Hershey is tapping bakers’ interest in cream cheese for its newest flavour of Chipits.
According to Rebecca Paddock, marketing manager at Hershey’s Canada, the launch of Hershey’s Chipits Cream Cheese is informed by half of Canadian bakers adding cream cheese to their baking annually. It’s a flavour that has also been trending in the restaurant industry, Paddock explains, with cream cheese flavour being increasingly featured in dessert menus.
“We wanted to bring this loved flavour to market in a baking chip format as an easy to use, accessible way to add cream cheese flavour to any recipe,” Paddock says.
She tells strategy that the point of sale tools Hershey is deploying, such as the displays and danglers, inspire bakers with new scanable recipes and engage shoppers with high impact displays placed at high-traffic areas in store, creating awareness and driving purchase.
Chipits harnessed the power of baking in a recent campaign that highlighted the many ways baking can bring people together and change lives in a new series of short films for the brand.
Launch support for Hershey’s Chipits Cream Cheese amplifies Hershey’s Chipits’ “Bake with Love” tagline. The effort also includes online digital display support and several new cream cheese flavour chip recipes on the Hersheyland Chipits microsite. 
In November, the whole Hershey’s Chipits line was given an image overhaul by Pigeon to attract younger buyers to the baking chips category, a move to create an ownable and engaging visual identity system for the portfolio.
“The revitalization of the brand increases relevancy by highlighting the brand’s exceptional quality, injecting a joyful design personality and elevating appetite appeal,” Paddock claims. She adds that the new design, which includes the Cream Cheese SKU, is a way to connect with new consumers in a relevant and engaging manner.
According to Sarah Pender, design director at Pigeon, the new look improves shop-ability, provides greater consistency across the portfolio, and better showcases the brand’s personality and the quality of its products.
As Pender explains, the “baking with love” idea from the confectionery’s recent campaign is captured through the re-energized Hershey’s Chipits visual identity featuring a contemporized and joyful evolution of its current signature package design.
In November’s earnings call, Hershey says sales for its baking chips, cocoa and syrup products grew over 7% in Q3, and are now approximately 25% higher than the same period pre-pandemic as consumers continue to spend more time at home baking.
