What the new Tim Tam flavours are really like

WE’VE tried them, and they gave us quite the sugar rush, but also got us thinking about why on earth Arnott’s would do this.

LAST week, Arnott’s announced a partnership with the Sydney-based Gelato Messina, revealing four new Tim Tam flavours that they say “[take] cues from the gelato flavours that have made Messina the darlings of Australia’s food scene”.

We’ve tried the whole range, and as well as giving us quite the sugar-rush, it got us thinking about why on earth they would do this. And that maybe it doesn’t actually matter what anyone thinks of the new flavours at all.

But first, here’s what the Messina Tim Tams are really like.

BLACK FOREST

Cherries and vanilla buttercream and a bad aftertaste. Picture: Tristan Lutze

A biscuit inspired by an ice cream inspired by a cake inspired by a forest. At the end of this turducken of inspiration lies a cherry gel and vanilla buttercream sandwiched between two biscuits, covered in dark chocolate.

These Black Forest Tim Tams leave a bad taste in the mouth. Literally. What could have been a rich explosion of kirsch, cherry, cream and chocolate flavours is instead overly sweet and oddly bitter, not at all representative of the either the quality of Messina’s flavours or the glory of the Tim Tam.

COCONUT AND LYCHEE

This is how Arnott’s is marketing the new Messina inspired coconut and Lychee Tim Tam.

While the white chocolate coating and tropical-sounding ingredients of this flavour made it most taste testers’ last choice to sample, it also elicited a few head tilts of pleasant surprise.

Within the soapy tasting white chocolate and pale biscuit hides a buttercream that’s both enjoyable and happily authentic to what’s written on the packet. The overwhelming richness of the combination, however, makes it a challenge to get through an entire biscuit, and no one we asked to try them would choose to buy a whole packet.

SALTED CARAMEL & VANILLA

Same, same, but vanilla-ry. Picture: Tristan Lutze

Only the faint hint of vanilla in this biscuit’s (admittedly delicious) buttercream separates it from the existing caramel Tim Tam variety or from Zumbo’s Salted Caramel Tim Tam, which begs the question — wasn’t there another Messina flavour to be inspired by?

CHOC MINT

OK, these ones are pretty good. Picture: Tristan Lutze

Chocolate and mint are as glorious a union of flavours as is ever likely to be found. This tempting “after dinner” combination is beautifully executed by the Messina wizards in their intense gelato, and is just as appealing here.

While delicious, most of our taste testers said this just reminded them of the superior Mint Slice biscuit.

Still, you can’t do a “Tim Tam slam” with a Mint Slice, can you?

THE MARKETING PLOY

Ultimately, of all the people we gave the new varieties to try — over a dozen — none said they would be compelled to buy the new flavours over the originals. Particularly those outside Sydney, who couldn’t recall ever hearing of Messina before.

So why this move? Why the significant investment into product development, production, distribution and marketing if it seems unlikely to capture a new audience?

Arnott’s know the risk. Of the Tim Tams released as part of the Adriano Zumbo collaboration, only a couple of flavours remain for sale. Their limited edition mocktail-inspired range proved even less successful (read Dana McCauley’s disappointed review here).

The prevailing issue for Arnott’s is that, while Tim Tams remains one of Australia’s most recognisable and beloved food brands, this esteem alone does not translate into sales. Our testers, despite saying they’d stick to buying original Tim Tams over the Messina editions, admitted that they couldn’t remember a time in the past two years that they’d bought a pack.

It’s this loyal ambivalence that Arnott’s is undoubtedly attempting to combat.

In a time when generic brands and other competitors are applying increasing pressure, a new edition backed by an aggressive marketing campaign means increased brand awareness.

The increased prominence of the Tim Tam brand on supermarket shelves (and high profile merchandising positions at the ends of aisles and other “off-location” displays), provides a bright reminder that Tim Tams are something we love, and something we should have in the cupboard.

If the marketing for the new Messina range drives consumers to try one of these new flavours once, but compels them to buy a packet of their beloved original when they’re shopping next, or if the campaign simply reminds them of how much they love the original and drives them to buy a pack, the operation has been a success.

The same can be argued for the revolving (and often revolting) door of new Shapes flavours and varieties of Coca Cola. The awful “new recipe” makes us appreciate what we had in the first place.

Ultimately, these new gelato-inspired Tim Tam flavours are intriguing curiosities that, while occasionally enjoyable, will mostly serve to remind you of just how much you love the original Tim Tams.

And if that’s how the biscuit crumbles, it will be perfectly fine with Arnott’s.

Tristan Lutze is a Sydney-based food writer and photographer. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook.