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Product type | Milk |
---|---|
Owner | Nestlé |
Produced by | Nestlé Philippines |
Country | Philippines |
Introduced | 1892 |
Related brands | Bärenmarke (Switzerland, under license) |
Markets | Worldwide |
Previous owners | Bernese Alps Milk Company[1] F.E. Zuellig, Inc. (until 1976) |
Ambassador(s) | Nida Blanca Maricel Soriano Vilma Santos Eugene Domingo Michael V. Kiray Regine Velasquez Boy Abunda Coco Martin Sarah Geronimo |
Website | bearbrand.com.ph |
Brand names Bear Brand Choco, Bear Brand Real Strawberry,[2] Bear Brand Adult Plus, Bear Brand Busog Lusog, Bear Brand Gold |
Bear Brand is a drink and powdered milk brand[3] currently owned by Nestlé.[4][5][6] The brand is available in most areas of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Eastern Africa, as well as in Asian stores in the United States and Canada. It was marketed under the brand name "Marca Oso", which is Spanish for "Bear Brand".[7] The brand's Indonesian name is "Susu Cap Beruang".
In 2014, a consumer research firm ranked Bear Brand milk as No. 6 among the top 50 "most popular fast-moving consumer goods" in the Philippines.[8]
Year | Introductions and reception |
---|---|
1898 | Bear Brand (also known as Bärenmarke in Switzerland) was introduced. |
1906 | Bear Brand Sterilized first appeared as Bear Brand Swiss Milk or Marca Oso. |
1930s | It was introduced in Indonesia. |
1976 | The Bear Brand Powdered Milk[3] was launched. |
1980 | It was introduced in Thailand. |
1992 | Bear Brand freshed its logo into a cartoony bear. |
1998 | Bear Brand Fit 'n Fresh was introduced but was discontinued in the first month of 2000. |
2001 | Bear Brand Jr. (for 1 to 3 years old), a baby milk supplement brand, was introduced. It was formerly named 'Bear Brand 1+'.[10] |
2002 | Bear Brand Sterilized was now sold in Tetra Pak. |
2006 | Bear Brand Gold was introduced. It is available in flavors: White Malt, White Tea, Goji Berry and White Kidney Beans. It is fortified with Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, and E. This sterilized low-fat milk[11] is high in calcium, with its malt extract flavor available in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia. |
Bear Brand Choco was introduced. The chocolate flavored powdered milk is also available in the form of Bear Brand Adult Plus. | |
2008 | The Bear Brand Busog Lusog cereal drink was introduced.[12] It is one of the most popular cereal drinks in the Philippines This rendition of the Bear Brand Milk followed shortly after the increased popularity of the Energen cereal drink in the market. This may have been one of Nestle's reactions to Sigmavit. |
2009 | The bear cub in the Bear Brand logo was removed due to the Bear Brand Sweetened Creamer being misunderstood as a breast milk substitute for toddlers under 36 months of age in Laos. |
2010 | The Bear Brand sterilized milk was introduced with Ginseng and Ginkgo Biloba flavors. |
2011 | Bear Brand Adult Plus was introduced. The drink is targeted for working adults. |
2014 | Bear Brand powdered drink mix was reformulated circa 2014, which included the addition of 100% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C per serving.[13] Iron and Zinc levels were also increased.[13] |
2016 | In Cambodia and Myanmar, Bear Brand Nutritious Cereal Drink was introduced.[14] |
2017 | Bear Brand Powdered Milk Drink upgraded its formula and it released in the Philippines and was named Bear Brand Fortified. The iron content was tripled and still has 100% Vitamin C and has high levels of zinc. |
2017 | Myanmar introduced the Nestle Bear Brand Gold. |
2017 | Bear Brand Yogu, a form of yoghurt milk drink version of Bear Brand, was introduced. |
2017 | Bear Brand Real Strawberry, the strawberry flavor of Bear Brand Powdered Milk, was introduced. This powdered milk flavor of Bear Brand is the only one that has strawberry bits. |
2019 | Bear Brand Adult Plus Milk Drink with Coffee, the coffee flavor of Bear Brand Adult Plus was introduced. |
2019 | Bear Brand Fortified Powdered Milk Drink updated its formula with even more Zinc compared to the 2017 formulation, while having its previous improvements. |
2020 | Bear Brand Fortified Powdered Milk Drink introduced its ready-to-drink Tetra Pak milk drink. |
2021 | Both Bear Brand Real Strawberry Powdered Milk Drink and Bear Brand Yogu removed from the market on the same year. |
2021 | Bear Brand Powdered Milk Drink reformulated, having 100% Vitamin D in their formula. |
In Thailand, the Bear Brand Sterilized is branded by other variants. In Cambodia, Bear Brand was introduced in July 2015, while in Myanmar, Bear Brand was introduced in October 2016.[15] Bear Brand's Indonesian package is in slim tube 189 mL content.[16] In Switzerland, the brand is instead named Bärenmarke[17] in German origin of name.
On its introduction in 1906, the Bear Brand logo depicted a bear bottle-feeding a baby bear. The bottle was removed on its logo in 1967.
In 1976, the launch of the Bear Brand Powdered Milk included the bear with a cub and the wordmark. In 1992, the bears refreshed with a cartoony look, and in 1996, the shield appeared one its logo, but in 2002 the shape was changed with the current shield logo form.
In 2004, the logo in most of the countries of Southeast Asia, used the circle logo variant. In 2013, the Bear Brand logo wordmark typeface was changed from Franklin Gothic to Arial for the shield logo. While in their circle logo, since 2016 (for Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar), uses Helvetica typeface.
In the Philippines, they use the slogan "Tibay Araw-Araw" starting from 2012. Their present "Laki Sa Gatas" nutrition education advocacy program[18] was first launched in 2006.[19][20]
In 2015, Bear Brand's Alamat ng Matibay book was launched, which introduced the character Mina, and her friend Sonson.[21]