In the UK, Kraft Foods has added a mini variety of its Bubbly chocolate bar under the Cadbury banner. This “self-eat” version is in a smaller format and joins its larger-sized sibling, which launched earlier in 2012.  

Mars is likewise launching a new version with a familiar brand, introducing a caramel-only variant of its namesake candy bar. Mars Caramel will have 56 fewer calories than the original (courtesy of the omission of the traditional thick layer of nougat), but it is a limited-time offering, scheduled to be in UK stores for only a few weeks.

Barry Calle-baut, meanwhile, is targeting dairy-free consumers with a new milk chocolate. The company notes the confection offers the same color and flavor of milk chocolate, though without any milk ingredients, making it suitable for dairy- and lactose-free consumers.

Proving that not all introductions are necessarily brand-new innovations, William Santus & Co. is taking Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls into new territory. Produced since 1898, the line is breaking into the Japanese market for the first time, the result of a chance encounter. A Japanese couple used the products as wedding favors and saw such a favorable response that they established their own food-distribution business and placed a larger order with William Santus.