Probiotic breakfast brand Oat Cult has launched a limited-edition Tiramisu flavour, supported by a surreal new brand film as it looks to stand out in the increasingly crowded functional breakfast category.
Oat Cult has launched its latest limited-edition overnight oats flavour, Tiramisu, combining real decaf coffee with cocoa and creamy oats to recreate the familiar bitter-sweet flavour of the Italian dessert.
Launching exclusively to Oat Cult members, the new flavour is priced at £2.20 RRP, or £1.60 per pack for subscribers. A 60g pack will be included free with members’ next delivery, while the product is set to reach selected retail partners and Amazon later in the year.
The launch reflects Oat Cult’s focus on flavour innovation as brands increasingly compete in the breakfast category through protein, macros and functional claims. The brand said the Tiramisu flavour is designed to offer an indulgent experience while retaining its nutritional positioning, including one billion live cultures per pack.
Ben da Costa, founder of Oat Cult, said: “We know it’s not tiramisu – it’s overnight oats. But add a dollop of yoghurt and you get that coffee flavour, the chocolate hit and that delicious combination of bitter and sweet. That’s what we wanted to recreate. We used real decaf coffee rather than a coffee flavouring, which stops it tasting like a syrup. The brief was to keep it healthy but exciting and indulgent. Still a proper breakfast, still a billion live cultures in every pack, but it tastes like you’ve got away with something.”
The recipe went through 30 iterations, with the team experimenting with ingredients including cinnamon and different approaches to the coffee before settling on real decaf coffee.
To support the launch, Oat Cult has also released a new brand film created by independent ‘anti-advertising agency’ advertising agency Thingy & Thingy and directed by Mike Upson of MindsEye.
Set in 15th-century Italy, the black-and-white film follows a bizarre ritual in which people sacrifice the things they love to a mysterious hole in the ground, which responds by spewing coffee-and-chocolate overnight oats into the faces of an increasingly devoted crowd.
The film is part of Oat Cult’s wider strategy to build a distinctive brand identity around breakfast rather than compete solely on functional credentials.
As Mr Da Costa said: “I spent twenty years as a creative before I made oats, and not writing this myself was harder than I’d like to admit. But backing creative people, whether that’s agencies, animators or someone making things in their bedroom, is part of what Oat Cult is for, and watching other people bring this world to life has been a joy. When I read the script, I knew my baby was in safe hands. Then they pushed it into a hole. I’ve still not had it back.”
Social-first creative studio Lukewarm handled social and creator activity for the launch, while Oat Cult has also collaborated with artist Hackney Dave (Dave Buonaguidi) on a limited-edition A5 print for selected Cult members.
The launch comes as tiramisu continues to gain traction across food and drink, with Tastewise data showing the dessert appearing on almost 15% more UK menus year-on-year. It also follows Oat Cult’s first outside investment, a £220,000 round led by Anotherway Ventures, which is being used to grow its subscription and Amazon business.
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