19 Nov 2015 NoMU débuts premium instant hot chocolate
“After 128 attempts and more than four years spent in development, we are super-proud to announce the launch of simply the most delicious, ‘instant’ hot chocolate!” So says Paul Raphaely, NoMU director and co-founder, of this super-stylish brand’s latest launch.
NoMU already has three other hot choc variants in its inventory, so what’s different about this Just Add Water option?
“This is completely different from all of our previous hot chocolate products in that this is a ‘Just Add Water’ or ‘instant’ hot chocolate.
“We developed it to provide the more mainstream hot chocolate consumer with a high-quality item in a category dominated, until now, by quite weak, watery alternatives that are also mostly low-grade sugar and cocoa,” explains Raphaely.
“We have attacked the problem the other way around, investing heavily into the highest-quality UTZ-certified cocoa and best grade of raw, natural sugar, focusing on getting the basics absolutely right first. Our choice of cocoa means we’re supporting sustainable, environmentally-friendly cocoa farming. It is the best quality cocoa available. Period.
“The result is a noticeably darker, richer, thicker ‘instant’ drink which will hopefully leave a lot of people wondering what have they been drinking all this time. No more adding spoon after spoon of hot chocolate to get the desired taste and look. And it’s equally delicious drunk cold.”
NoMU has also launched with a view to ready markets in the food service and hospitality sectors.
“As it is a ‘Just Add Water’ product, this enables us to produce it in 30g single-serving sachets which obviously suit the hotel and guest house and safari industries perfectly,” he notes.
“And so we will be giving a lot of our attention to catering to this very specifically. Until now, we have never had an ‘easy fit’ product for this channel.”
Driving this big move from a production perspective is the investment in a Filmatic, form-fill-seal machine to create the sachets.
Raphaely reports that initial reception from these sectors has been excellent, and that it will soon be available in the Portfolio Collection of Hotels, The Mcgrath Group, Hunter Hotels, The Cape Grace, The Table Bay and many more.
He believes it’s also an ideal (ie healthier) alternative for school canteens and tuck shops, and NoMU intends giving due attention to this niche market as well.
“It’s an exciting phase for us, with perhaps a concept we should have done right in the beginning… But without the knowledge we have built up in this category and skills we have also picked up along the way, perhaps its only appropriate that it took us 128 attempts and 4.5 years to get this right!” he says.
‘Just Add Water’ is available in retail outlets in the 10x 30g sachet format, and can be bought online, too, in 1.75kg tub and the 500g tin formats. Respective RSPs are R58, R175 and R56.