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]
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.
International branding
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.
Logos
1906 ad depicting a bear feeding a baby bear
Daihatsu Luxio used as a commercials van to advertise the Bear Brand
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.
Commercials, advertisements and slogans
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]
1 Brand owned by General Mills; Produced by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Brand owned by Post Foods; Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
