Melting Pot Fudge Wins Best Product Launch/Relaunch and Three Great Taste Stars
Since bringing Melting Pot Fudge into the GM Marketing portfolio, we’ve been on a mission to give a much-loved Belfast brand a new lease of life.
The challenge was simple: keep everything people love about traditional handmade fudge, while creating a brand that feels fresh, relevant and ready for a new generation of fudge fans.
Fast forward to 2026, and that transformation has now been recognised with some pretty sweet results.
Melting Pot Fudge has been named Best Product Launch/Relaunch at the 2026 Belfast Telegraph Ulster Grocer Marketing Awards, recognising the work that has gone into completely reimagining the brand.
And the celebrations haven’t stopped there. The brand has also picked up three Great Taste Award stars across two of its classic flavours, with Traditional Butter receiving two stars and Madagascan Vanilla receiving one.
Giving fudge a fresh new look
Melting Pot Fudge has always had a great product at its heart.
Handmade in Belfast using quality ingredients including Irish butter, every batch is still produced the traditional way in our Belfast factory – cooked in big pots and stirred by hand.
When we took on the brand, we didn’t want to change that. Instead, we wanted to change the way people thought about fudge.
Traditionally associated with gifting, holidays and special occasions, we saw an opportunity to make fudge feel much more relevant to everyday life. Something you could grab with a coffee, enjoy after lunch or pick up simply because you fancied something sweet.
That thinking kick-started a complete transformation of Melting Pot Fudge.
The new identity introduced the brand’s unmistakable bright yellow, bold flavour-led colours, refreshed photography, a completely new website and social presence, alongside a much more playful personality summed up perfectly by its new attitude:
“Fudge it ’til you make it.”
The result is a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously – even if it remains very serious about making good fudge.
Creating new occasions for fudge
The transformation went much further than a new look.
A key part of the strategy was creating new formats and opening up new occasions for the category, including the introduction of a 50g impulse range designed to make Melting Pot Fudge just as at home in a lunchtime meal deal or convenience store as it is in a traditional gift box.
Alongside favourites including Traditional Butter, Salted Caramel and Madagascan Vanilla, the wider range includes more indulgent flavours such as Chocolate Orange and Irish Cream Liqueur, as well as a dedicated vegan range.
The new positioning has helped Melting Pot Fudge continue to expand across grocery, convenience, foodservice and independent retail throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – bringing the brand, quite literally, into more hands.
Award-winning work – and award-winning fudge
That journey was recognised at the 2026 Belfast Telegraph Ulster Grocer Marketing Awards, where Melting Pot Fudge took home the award for Best Product Launch/Relaunch.
The award recognises the work behind the brand’s transformation – from strategy and packaging to digital, photography, communications and the development of its new impulse range.
For the team at GM Marketing, it is a particularly exciting milestone. It represents what can happen when a brilliant product, strong commercial thinking and a distinctive brand identity come together.
But while the Ulster Grocer award celebrates how the brand has changed on the outside, Melting Pot Fudge’s latest accolades prove that what’s inside the pack remains just as important.
At the 2026 Great Taste Awards, two of the brand’s classic flavours collected a total of three stars:
- Traditional Butter – 2 Great Taste stars
- Madagascan Vanilla – 1 Great Taste star
The recognition is a huge achievement for our production team in Belfast, who continue to make every batch using the traditional processes that have always been at the heart of Melting Pot Fudge.
Because while plenty has changed about the brand, one thing certainly hasn’t: the fudge still has to taste every bit as good as it looks.
And we’re only getting started
From a bold new identity and new product formats to growing distribution and two major award successes, it has already been quite a journey for Melting Pot Fudge.
But this is only the beginning.
We’ll continue building distribution, creating new reasons for consumers to discover the brand and challenging perceptions of where, when and how fudge can be enjoyed.
Traditional fudge. A very untraditional attitude.
Fudge it ’til you make it.