'It doesn't have the heritage of Cadbury and the fact that it contains double cream has not proved compelling enough to consumers,' said one retail source.
The chocolate bar, which has already been sidelined as a niche product, was originally designed to challenge the dominance of Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Masterfoods' Galaxy brand in the confectionery market.
It was also intended to boost Nestle's chocolate credentials in the UK by creating a 'premium mainstream' segment. To support this positioning, marketing focused on the fact that its ingredients included double cream instead of milk, as well as the provenance of the Ecuadorian cocoa beans used in the bars.
Double Cream, which was launched in 2002, was revamped last year, with new packaging and heavy discounting, under Nestle Rowntree managing director Chris White. A Double Berry variant lasted less than a year before being scrapped in March.
The product has suffered from aggressive discounting by confectionery rivals, which have also introduced variants to build their territory on supermarket shelves.
Nestle would not be drawn on the product's performance. A spokesman said: 'We regularly monitor the performance of all our products. The Nestle Double Cream brand remains part of our portfolio.'
Nestle revealed last month that it planned to target discount retailers in an attempt to grow its market share.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)