Crediton Dairy, the leading producer of flavoured milk drinks, located in the heart of Devon has won a prestigious industry award for new product development.

The company, which employs over 100 staff at its modern dairy in Crediton and sources milk from over 60 local dairy farmers, picked up the accolade at The Grocer’s New Products Awards 2015 held at the Marriot Grosvenor Square for the successful launch of its innovative range of ‘Gü’ ready to drink hot chocolate milks.

The ‘Gü’ branded range of premium hot chocolates comes in two indulgent and great tasting flavours of Hot Chocolate and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Since its launch 12 months ago the range has built a strong consumer loyalty and is now stocked nationwide by major retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Waitrose.

Against strong opposition in the Coffee & Hot Chocolate section of the Awards the ‘Gü’ hot chocolate milk received some highly positive comments from the judging panel made up of industry experts and consumers. The ‘Gü’ hot chocolate rated very highly with the consumer panellists on every measure, with 81 per cents aying that its ready-to-drink format brought something new to the market. Whilst comments made by the taste-testers included “an appreciation of its velvety texture, indulgence, versatility and moreishness”. Commenting on winning the award Nick Bartlett, Head of Sales & Marketing at Crediton Dairy said, “We are delighted to have won The Grocer’s prestigious new product award. In developing the ‘Gü’ range of premium hot chocolates we aimed to redefine and reinvigorate the hot chocolate category by providing consumers with premium hot chocolate drinks which both taste great and are easy to prepare. I’m pleased to say that we have made good progress in this with the range now being stocked by leading retailers across the UK, whilst we have also recently started exporting ‘Gü’ to France.

“The ‘Gü’ hot chocolates are fully in line with Crediton Dairy’s strategic focus of developing innovative, great tasting milks that will add value back into to the dairy category and continue to grow the vibrant dairy drinks sector. We are continuing to invest in our New Product Development capabilities and we expect to launch further innovative milk drinks in the next 12 months.”