News bites: monotremely good stuff

19th March 2021 | Eativity editors

Any kids under five reading this, look away now. You see, the Easter Bunny has been usurped. Yep, there’s a new contender in town, which just happens to be even cuter (and more elusive) than that fictional furbag. And as a bonus, it’s 100 percent Aussie.

Keeping the whole national pride theme going, some Australian-made brands have been making the news recently, including a snack celebrating a big birthday by letting nostalgic noshers revisit a few favourite flavours (and maybe win some cash), a famous spread that’s spreading some harmony to celebrate our nation’s amazing multiculturalism and a new kind of tea that’s totally nothing like the stuff your granny likes to drink.

Step aside, Easter Bunny – there’s a new player in town

Meet Puddles the Platypus, who’s making a real splash just in time for our proudly Aussie egg-laying mammal to claim her place as the rightful replacement for that feral impostor, the Easter Bunny. Created by the renowned Melbourne-based Chocolatier Australia, the Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate and palm oil-free Puddles is now available from various major retail outlets in the lead-up to Easter. Puddles will then become a standard item in the Chocolatier range, with 25 percent of profits donated to platypus conservation.

Since creating Puddles, Chocolatier has been absolutely flooded with enquiries. Co-founder of Chocolatier John Grisold says that the family-owned business first released the Puddles product over 20 years ago, and that this re-release is part of a rekindling of Chocolatier’s relationship with the Australian Platypus Conservancy.

“Our supplies are almost exhausted; however, our great factory team is scrambling to make as many more as we can,” Grisold says. “Chocilo [which sells Chocolatier’s full range] will be shipping online once we have extra stock made.”

Celebrating our cultural diversity this Harmony Week

To mark Harmony Week, Vegemite is encouraging Australians to celebrate our diversity of cultures, languages and flavours by sharing a series of varied ways to enjoy Vegemite.

To showcase the country’s cultural melting pot, Vegemite has released a series of recipe ideas inspired by our rich and varied culinary heritage. The brand is also putting our nation’s vibrant multiculturalism at the front and centre of the Australian landscape, unveiling large-scale outdoor advertising with Vegemite’s classic “Tastes Like Australia” headline translated into the top 10 most spoken languages in the country – Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Tagalog, Hindi, Spanish and English.

Smith’s marks 90 years by bringing back favourite flavours

Ubiquitous party staple Smith’s is celebrating its 90th birthday this year by bringing back some of its favourite flavours. The limited-edition “Bring Backs” range will feature five flavours – Crispy Bacon, Tasty Cheese, Garlic Bread, Sausage Sizzle and Loaded Baked Potato – all in the classic crinkle cut format.

Smith’s emerged from humble beginnings in the inner-Sydney suburb of Surry Hills in 1931. Frank Smith and George Ensor originally began making chips in 20 gas-fired cooking pots, before packing them by hand with a “twist of salt” sachet for flavouring. Thirty years on, Smith’s released the first flavoured chip in Australia with its chicken flavour.

As part of the celebrations, there’s a major on-pack promotion to win instant cash and prizes, with a total prize pool of $1 million. You can find Smith’s limited-edition Bring Backs flavours at select retailers nationally. Crispy Bacon and Tasty Cheese will be at all major grocers, Garlic Bread will be at Woolworths only, Sausage Sizzle will be at Coles only and Loaded Baked Potato will be at IGA and independent retailers only.

Aussie duo launches award-winning cold brew tea

“Tea for two” has taken on a whole new meaning for Australian beverage business East Forged. The company’s locally-produced, nitrogen-infused cold brew teas are gaining international attention – and winning some fancy awards.

The product of two tea-loving women, Kym Cooper and Tania Stacey, East Forged flips the traditional notion of iced tea on its head, with the creation of a product that’s almost anything but. Looking deceptively like a beer when hard-poured, East Forged cold brews are quickly becoming a fast favourite in the booming non-alcoholic adult beverage category. The drinks also contain less than 0.3g of sugar per can.

The founders of the brand both have extensive backgrounds in the tea industry, and together they decided that they wanted to bring a whole new category to tea – and it’s paying off. Covering the three biggest tea pillars (green, black and white) and launching in Pitaya, Calamansi and Yuzu flavours, East Forged brews recently won gold and silver medals at The Global Spirits Masters in the low/no alcohol category.

East Forged nitrogen-infused cold brew teas are available from eastforged.com