In developing Warm Delights, developers at General Mills were meeting a number of trends head-on: convenience and indulgence being the primary two.
Portion control has continued to be a growing trend for food and beverage products; the most recent illustration is by General Mills under its Betty Crocker Warm Delights Minis brand. Initially, the product was introduced in the U.S. in February 2005 with individual single-serve packaging and more than 350 calories. Consumers could conveniently prepare a “freshly baked,” warm bakery item with nothing more than a microwave.
General Mills has taken this concept to the next level by providing a reduced serving size with 150 calories. The new product can be consumed as a dessert, treat or even a snack. The product reflects the popular trends of portion-control products. There are a couple of products that are conceptually similar to this treat from as early as the late 1980s, such as a single-serve indulgent dessert from Pepperidge Farm and a Betty Crocker’s product called MicroRave. However, as with other single-serve, microwaveable products launched in other categories in the late 1980s, these products may have been ahead of their time.
