awholelotofcrunch

Dot Twiglets

2008-08-19T14:33:13+02:00

Ever since I enquired about buying the domain names twiglets.com and twiglets.net every now and again I get an email from the .net owners asking me if I'm still interested in buying - for an ever decreasing price. Today, I was offered the domain again. I'm not interested. I like the one I've got. However, it did get me thinking about how things might have changed to the Google search rankings for the keyword Twiglets since I launched this here blog. Well, things have changed although I doubt it has much to do with awholelotofcrunch.com. Look below to see where things stood just over a year ago,

If we don't count the ads, twiglets.com comes in seventh and twiglets.net is nowhere to be seem. Now, let's travel forwards in time and see where things are today,

Searching for Twiglets, originally uploaded by noodlepie.

Awholelotofcrunch replaces twiglets.com at the number seven spot. In fact .net and .com are nowhere to be seen for pages and pages. Even my Twiglets flickr set comes in at number 10. So, there you have it; half an hour of blogging per month and Google loves you :)

Now that's what I call supper volume 1

2008-08-19T14:04:21+02:00

Bibliogirl wants to please her man by treating him to a nice tart at dinner time. Like any self-respecting Twiglets fiend, once she's in the kitchen she's itching like a fox with clap to find a way to squeeze her Twiglets onto the dinner plate. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Baked smoked salmon cheesecake with Twiglet base,

1 small packet of Twiglets (25g, I think)
1 heaped teaspoon butter

130g cream cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp double cream
40g smoked salmon
2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C.

Melt butter. Crush Twiglets (I used a grinder to grind them finely, which worked well) and mix with melted butter; press into base of individual springform pans.

Beat cream cheese, egg and cream together until well combined. Chop smoked salmon finely and add salmon, grated cheese, salt and pepper to cream cheese mixture. Divide between pans.

Bake about 20 minutes. Cool in pan for an hour or so, then refrigerate until ready to serve. link

Sounds like a crunchtatsic winner if ever there was one. I would like to know how the recipient reacted though...

Eat Twiglets - lose weight

2008-06-09T13:10:01+02:00

I read it in the paper, so it must be true... According to the Daily Mirror, if you're on a diet and down the pub - if that's not a paradox I don't know what is - but if you are you must eat Twiglets. It's the law,

Twiglets are the best pub snack to go for, as they're relatively low in fat and calories (compared to crisps) and a good source of fibre, so they'll leave you fuller for longer.

Stiletto snacks

2008-06-02T15:39:26+02:00

Some people do the oddest things... like... errr... keeping a Twiglets blog.... hrrmmmpppphh.... while, I like my Twigletty crumbs as much as much as the next muncher, I can think of a number of quicker, easier and more hygeinic methods of mangling the munchkins to dust than this girl's preferred method. Heels and Twiglets... freak.

Curry Twiglets - vanished without trace

2008-05-15T08:48:59+02:00

I got an email the other day from a journalist on The Grocer magazine. he was desperately trying to find a picture of Curry Twiglets to accompany an article he was working on,

I am a journalist writing for The Grocer magazine. I am writing a feature about the snacks industry, part of which is taking a nostalgic look back at Curry Twiglets. I need an image though and the current brand team has none. I saw your blog and wondered if you had any pictures of the Curry Twiglets packaging you could email to me?

I don't have any. I had a hunt around and I couldn't find any either. But, what is it with United Biscuits and Twiglets? They appear to be so bloody useless. Zero web presence of any use. A brand team who take eight phone calls to respond to a simple request for information from a journalist and now they can't find an important artefact from Twiglets of yore. It's fairly clear, they simply don't give a toss about Twiglets.

Twiglets Milkshake

2008-05-12T09:45:31+02:00

News just in from South Essex...

A milkshake bar is coming to Southend with more than 100 flavours from Twiglets to peanut butter.
Shake It milkshake bar is set to open on April 26 near the railway bridge in Southend High Street.

Steve Vincent and Sam Phillips, both from Westcliff, decided on the venture after seeing similar cafes elsewhere in the country.

Steve, 26, said: "Southend seemed to be missing out on a milkshake bar, so we decided two years ago to fill the gap. The town has lots of coffee shops but this is unique.

"We have been making up as many different flavours we could think of and testing them on our friends to see what works and what doesn't."

They have now come up with a menu of over 100 flavours, including Weetabix, jam doughnuts and blackjack, and seasonal offerings like Christmas pudding. link

Map of readers

2008-05-07T22:08:34+02:00

twigletsmapofreaders, originally uploaded by noodlepie.

What I like about this map of recent visitors to this 'ere blog is that most of these Twiglets freaks are pining from abroad. Seeking out a fix. Searching for the Twiglets mainline etc. I feel your pain. I live in France.

The nastiest thing I've ever eaten

2008-04-20T10:05:16+02:00

A Broad Abroad continues her reviews of "weird British snacks" and she's not impressed with this neck of the woods,

Twiglets. A close runner up for the NASTIEST THING I've ever eaten. They taste like marmite. And they really do look like twigs.

Bloody foreigners.

Rusty Twiglets

2008-03-20T14:26:23+01:00

70s Party Animal, originally uploaded by markcpowell.

Not sure I'd want to delve deep into this tin for my snack fix, but a nice wee bit of history all the same.

A whole lot of CRUNCH in a WHOLEGRAIN MUNCH!

2008-03-05T22:14:17+01:00

Yep. That's the new message on the new bags of Twiglets about to be wheeled out of United Biscuits - whose online Twiglets presence remains utterly, utterly pitiful... As the regular reader will know the slogan has long bin 'A whole lot of CRUNCH in a WHOLEWHEAT MUNCH!' so, this is kinda big news, huh? Alors, the message changes, but the taste don't. Wholegrain or Wholewheat?? Lordy, you've gotta wonder how many marketing bucks went into that brainstorming session... Anyway, Talking Retail has more - much more - What the hell, I'll paste it in full. Just one question, What's an SKU? Normal people do read these things too, you know.

The new pack also sees a change in communication of the range’s principle ingredient, with the healthier snack now being positioned as a wholegrain product instead of whole-wheat. This message will be supported by the tagline: ‘A whole lot of CRUNCH in a WHOLEGRAIN MUNCH!’
The new Twiglets pack will also inform customers that each 25g bag contains 41% of their wholegrain GDA, further reinforcing the health message.

Twiglets will have a striking new pack design across all SKUs, designed to highlight to consumers the snack’s health credentials. The new livery will also increase impact on shelf, in turn delivering increased sales and profit opportunities for retailers.
The pack will highlight the following information in a red, tick box format:

• Less than 100 calories (per 25g serving)
• 79% Wholegrain
• No artificial colours
• No artificial flavours
• Baked not fried
• High in fibre

Nick Stuart, Commercial Manager, UBUK, commented: “UB remains committed to constantly improving their products and improving the nutritional communication to consumers. Twiglets is the latest brand to benefit from this.

“The Twiglets range already has a loyal following and those that are aware of the brand’s health credentials admit that this is a major reason for eating them.

“This new on-pack information has been designed to highlight that Twiglets are a healthier, tasty snack, and help increase the range’s sales, which have grown by 6% year on year.” link

I love that line "UB remains committed to constantly improving their products and improving the nutritional communication to consumers" Why? Your customers couldn't give a monkey's second hand toss about nutritional information. The recipe works, they taste great. That's it. Don't try and intellectualize this and preach to the carrot munchers. Just keep making Twiglets, be innovative (for once), talk to your customers, have fun online and encourage that conversation malarkey. And, if you don't know how to do that drop me a line. I don't come cheap, but I do know how the internet works. One other thing I know from running a Twiglets blog is that there are TONNES of folk out there who talk about your product. How about talking to them?