Yup! – a new range of “Anytime Oat Crumbles” – reimagines the humble porridge pot as a sweet, stylish, and satisfying snack for any time of day.
Mornflake has teamed up with branding studio Family & Friends to launch Yup!, a new snack range that aims to shake up the hot oat-pot market with new flavours, playful design and a free-spirited personality.
The heritage brand, with over 350 years of oat-milling expertise, identified an opening in the ‘gap-filler’ snacking category for a product that’s both indulgent and satisfying.
“Mornflake approached us with a new sweet, on-the-go oat-pot range,” says Alex Durbridge, co-founder of Family & Friends. “By exploring the existing porridge-pot market, we uncovered that younger consumers are seeking healthier dessert alternatives, without fixed snacking time preferences.”
That insight became the springboard for Yup! ‘s positioning as a flexible, anytime snack. The recipes are built around oats, granola, berries, nuts and chocolate chunks, taking inspiration from nostalgic puddings. Family & Friends handled everything from strategy and naming through to identity and packaging.
“Visually, we needed to shift away from the breakfast image of a static bowl of oats,” says Alex. “Sweet and fun, Yup! is more about looking good on-the-go rather than the kitchen table.”
The creative challenge was walking a tightrope to capture carefree indulgence while still signalling taste and quality. Strategy director DJ Johnston explains: “With a brand personality built around exuberance and free spirit, the brand’s proposition reads ‘Your rules, your way, any time of day’.
“Focusing on the idea of giving people the freedom to enjoy ‘whenever’ opened up the opportunity to define a unique brand proposition, disrupting the hot instant cereal category and banishing the boring.”
That idea came to life in a name that was short, punchy and affirmative. Yup! emerged as the natural fit, and nods to the idea of saying yes to indulgence, yes to exciting flavours, and yes to flexibility.
The packaging reinforces that attitude with vibrant colour combinations and playful graphics inspired by nostalgic sweet shops and even fashion accessories. Each pot is designed to feel like a statement item you’d happily carry around, rather than a utilitarian snack hidden away in a desk drawer.
The team deliberately leaned into cues from lifestyle and fashion rather than sticking too closely to traditional food branding. “We wanted each oat-pot flavour to feel like a stylish accessory, much like an everyday essential that complements personal style as seamlessly as the right handbag or a statement striped top,” Alex says.
The final packaging stands out in the cereal aisle but also wouldn’t look out of place on a café shelf or in someone’s Instagram feed.
This somewhat disruptive streak sits alongside Mornflake’s long-standing credibility in oats. By combining this more playful branding with a foundation of trusted nutrition, Yup! aims to hit a sweet spot between health and indulgence. For consumers who’ve grown tired of choosing between functional porridge or sugary confectionery, it offers an appealing middle ground.
Family & Friends’ long partnership with Mornflake meant the process was collaborative from the outset. The cereal brand brought deep knowledge of oats’ health benefits and versatility, while the studio brought strategic insight and design innovation. Over the years, that combination has become a proven recipe for success, enabling both sides to move quickly from concept to shelf.
The collaboration also reflects Family & Friends’ wider positioning as a studio. With backgrounds in major brand and advertising agencies, the team specialises in helping start-ups, scale-ups, and legacy businesses launch new products into competitive markets. For them, Yup! is another example of using creative agility to carve out a fresh category proposition.
Yup! pots are already available online and will roll out more widely in the coming months. For Family & Friends, the hope is that the brand sets a new benchmark for what hot oat snacks can be.
“We believe ‘Your rules, your way, any time of day’ is a fresh, relevant approach to the ever-evolving gap-fillers snacking market,” says Alex. “With this disruptive new proposition in the hot oat-pot category, and a fun, free-spirited design to match, we’re giving consumers the chance to say Yes! – guilt-free, anytime of day.”
