DEMAND for the 'Daisi' cereal bowl from Donegal Creameries has exceeded all expectations with 4,500 of the popular bowls having been supplied to the public so far.
'Daisi' bowls have been sent to places as far away as the USA and Australia. Numerous Donegal college students will be sitting down to breakfast at their new home from home this month, looking at their 'Daisi' bowl and remembering home.
Offering the Daisi bowl to the public was a follow-up to Donegal Creameries recent marketing campaign which "personalised" the cows who produce Donegal's daily milk supply. This led to the unique cereal bowl being offered for ¤4 and 16 tokens from the milk cartons. The public are now hoping that bowls with the names of the other Donegal cows will be made available.
Donegal Creameries Sales and Logistics Manager Niall O'Donnell admitted the company were "absolutely overwhelmed" by the huge response and enthusiasm shown by their customers by collecting the bowls.
The promotion started in June and will end on 17 September and already demand has outstripped supply. Such has been demand that extra bowls have been ordered to cover any remaining orders that will come in over the final few weeks of the promotion. Due to this delay some customers may have to wait a little longer for their bowls.
Over recent months children have been calling to the company's Killygordon office to collect their bowls, some of them bringing pictures of Daisi with them.
"Some customers have contacted us to tell us that they are sending the Daisi bowls to family and friends overseas in America and Australia, so that they can enjoy their breakfast with a 'Good Morning' from Daisi and Donegal Creameries. Some customers have contacted us asking if there will be Luci, Betsi, or Suzi bowls available and will we run a promotion with the other cow names and colours? That has not been decided as yet," Mr O'Donnell said.
Parents have commented that when children are using their 'Daisi' bowl, they have to finish their cereal in order to see the third Daisi on the bottom.
This has led to calls of "eat up and find the third Daisi" encouraging children to eat up.
Mr O'Donnell said he could not confirm that they will be offering the other bowls at this stage.
"We never imagined this promotion would be so successful. We were caught out and had to re-order the bowls. At the start we thought it would take a long time for people to take on board the idea of having their own 'Daisi' bowl.
"I think a lot of it with children is the novelty factor of having their own bowl and telling their friends about it. It is very much a regional thing emphasising the fact that their daily milk comes from Donegal farmers. It is all about Donegal," he added.
When the 'Daisi' promotion ends it will be followed by a repeat of the competition for a family trip to Lapland. Last year's proved so popular there were 17,000 entries.
"We will offer the trip to Lapland again this year and people will just have to send in a few tokens and their names. Someone from the county will be going to see Santa Clause in Lapland this year again. See cartons next month for more information," Mr O'Donnell said.
