Thousands vote, Hundreds and Thousands takes top spot

Forget chocolate, ginger or shortbread – it is a pink biscuit covered in ‘sprinkles’ that tops the biscuit popularity contest for the second year running as the country’s favourite Griffin’s biscuit.

More than 5,000 votes were cast by biscuit lovers across the country to award Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands top honours in the annual ‘New Zealand’s Favourite Griffin’s Biscuit’ survey.  The poll was conducted via a Facebook application between late October and mid November.

Voters chose Macaroon as their second favourite followed by Hokey Pokey Squiggles and ToffeePops Originals. Mint Treats knocked out last year’s fifth place-holder, MallowPuffs Original, to round out the top five.

Despite being at opposite ends of the country, Kiwis in the far north favour the same flavours as their counterparts in the far south. Both Northlanders and Southlanders voted Hundreds and Thousands, Macaroon and Hokey Pokey Squiggles as their top three respectively as did those in Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury.

However, it appears those in the middle of the country have less of a penchant for pink, with voters from the Hawkes Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Tasman and Marlborough regions preferring the chocolate-coconut blend of Macaroon as their biscuit of choice.

Kiwi men tend to prefer chocolate biscuits, rating the recently re-launched 1980s Choco-ade as their number one Griffin’s biscuit of choice, followed by the Macaroon.  Their third choice is the ever-popular Hundreds and Thousands.

Meanwhile Kiwi women, who contributed to more than 90 percent of the overall vote, dictated the top three choosing Hundreds and Thousands as their favourite ahead of Macaroons and Hokey Pokey Squiggles.

“New Zealanders dunk, chomp and chew their way through 86 million packets* of biscuits every year, and it seems Kiwi women in particular are very passionate about their biscuits,” says Griffin’s marketing director Josette Prince.

“Griffin’s Hundreds and Thousands has been a favourite at kids’ birthday parties for generations, but as these results show, it’s not just the kids but people of all ages and from both the provinces and the urban centres who can’t get enough of this iconic Kiwi biscuit.

“We are also thrilled to see Choco-ade, which we re-launched earlier this year following the Facebook crusade of Upper Hutt mum Amber Johnston, voted the sixth favourite overall out of 54 biscuit varieties in the survey.”

In a new addition this year, survey participants were asked to submit their ‘dream biscuit’ creation with the winning biscuit idea being produced in a one off batch for the winner.   A panel of Griffin’s bakers is currently judging entries and the winner will be announced in early December.

For more results in ‘New Zealand’s Favourite Griffin’s Biscuit’ Survey visit facebook.com/griffins

Summary of Results

Top Five overall
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Mint Treats

Top Five North Island
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Mint Treats

Top Five South Island
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Mint Treats


Top Five by Gender

Female
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Mint Treats

Male
1. Choco-ade
2. Macaroon
3. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Gingernuts


Top Five Griffin’s Biscuits by Region

Northland
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. MallowPuffs Original
5. Mint Treats

Auckland
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Mint Treats

Waikato
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. Mint Treats
5. ToffeePops Original

Bay of Plenty
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. ToffeePops Original
4. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
5. Mint Treats

Gisborne
1. Mint Treats
2. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
3. Macaroon
4. Chit Chat
5. MallowPuff Original

Hawkes Bay
1. Macaroon
2. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
3. Mint Treats
4. ToffeePops Original
5. ToffeePops MallowPuff Collisions

Taranaki
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. ToffeePops Original
3. Mint Treats
4. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
5. Choco-ade

Manawatu- Wanganui
1. Macaroon
2. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
3. ToffeePops Original
4. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
5. Choco-ade
          
Wellington
1. Macaroon
2. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. Mint Treats
5. Choco-ade

Tasman
1. Macaroon
2. Cookie Bear Party Time Wafer
3. MallowPuffs Double Chocolate
4. MallowPuffs Original
5. Fruitli Golden Fruit

Nelson
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Mint Treats
3. ToffeePops Original
4. Macaroon
5. MallowPuff Originals  

Marlborough
1. Macaroon
2. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. Milk Chocolate Digestive
5. ToffeePops Original

West Coast
1. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
2. Macaroon
3. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
4. Sultana Pasties
5. ToffeePops Original

Canterbury
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops Original
5. Choco-ade

Otago
1. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
2. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
3. ToffeePops Original
4. Sultana Pasties
5. Macaroon
 
Southland
1. Cookie Bear Hundreds and Thousands
2. Macaroon
3. Hokey Pokey Squiggles
4. ToffeePops MallowPuffs Collisions
5. ToffeePops Original