Whispa it, but Cadbury's success is down to a bar they ditched

IT WAS dropped because of poor sales, a relic of the 1980s thathad outlived its purpose.

But the Wispa bar has come to the rescue of beleaguered Cadbury'sin the wake of an extraordinary internet campaign calling for itsreintroduction.

Almost all of the 23 million Wispa bars produced as a one-offtrial nine weeks ago have been sold, the manufacturer announcedyesterday. It is a major boost after the firm was hit last year by asalmonella contamination and a shift in tastes towards healthierfoods.

But Cadbury's has yet to decide if it will permanentlyreintroduce the bar, which first hit the shelves in 1981 but wasditched in 2003 amid flagging sales.

Part of the British giant Cadbury Schweppes, the firm said thehype surrounding the return of the Wispa, following petitions onsocial networking websites such as Facebook, had sweetened thefortunes of its business "above the top end" of expectations.

It was also helped by "viral marketing" - advertising which usessocial networks such as e-mail. Such a campaign for Dairy Milkfeatured a gorilla playing the drum solo of Phil Collins' hit In theAir Tonight.

Experts said the success of Wispa was evidence that the socialnetworks used by such advertising could also be employed byconsumers to send a message back to big companies.

Professor Paul Freathy, of the Institute for Retail Studies atStirling University, said: "The use of new channels such aswebsites, e-mails and text messages is becoming more sophisticatedand these are also areas which can be the focus of consumer power."He added: "It is easier for a firm to reintroduce a product whichhas an established brand. There is less of a risk than launching awhole new product."

Cadbury said it had also benefited from a cooler summer, in whichshoppers had turned to chocolate earlier than expected.

Last year, the firm's sales plummeted by more than 25 per centafter 42 customers fell ill following an outbreak of salmonella atits factory in Marlbrook, Herefordshire. The firm was fined GBP 1million in July this year for production failures that had led tothe contamination.

Facebook groups dedicated to the return of the Wispa have almost14,000 members, all actively campaigning in 93 "Bring Back Wispa"groups, which cite the popularity of the bar in the 1980s. In June,two fans stormed the stage at Glastonbury during Iggy Pop's set tohold up a "Bring Back Wispa" poster. The firm's decision to producea trial batch in October was heralded as a victory for consumerpower.

But there was bad news for chocolate lovers yesterday asCadbury's warned that the price of its products would continue torise by well above inflation following sharp rises in the cost ofmilk, oil and cocoa.

"It is inevitable some chocolate prices will go up to compensatefor very significant increases in costs," said Ken Hanna, Cadbury'sfinance director.