Cocoa Nuts!

Confectionery sales are worth £4.88bn in the UK (AC Nielsen Scantrack Impulse), with retail sales having grown by £800m in 2003. Chocolate confectionery sales account for £3.36bn of this and increased by 2.5% in 2003, according to Cadbury Trebor Bassett’s Confectionery Report 2003. This gain was achieved despite falling sales during last year’s hot summer as sales shot up in the September to December period. With similar weather this year, retailers should pull out all the stops to maximise sales in the autumn period.

CTB reckons there is much forecourts can do to boost chocolate sales. Its Confectionery Report says: “Enormous potential exists for forecourts to increase their profits through confectionery sales, particularly as only 17.5% of consumers currently make an additional purchase with their fuel.

“CTB’s consumer research shows that 37% of forecourt shoppers are women, who traditionally purchase more confectionery than men. With Twirl at the number three spot in best selling forecourt products and Crunchie at number six, it is clear that not all consumers are looking for a big eat and forecourts should offer a full range of chocolate (and sugar) products to meet all shopper needs.

“A considered approach to creating striking displays and good stock levels will appeal to the increasingly important female market. Customers could be looking for treats, snacks, hunger satisfiers or not even know what they want until they see it! This is why it is vital to display confectionery clearly and visibly.”

Meanwhile, Masterfoods’ research into forecourt shopping has found that when it comes to chocolate, retailers could be missing opportunities at lunchtime. Its research found that: “Forecourt shoppers are buying confectionery on impulse but aren’t purchasing it with lunch. Confectionery should therefore be multi-sited at the sandwich fixture, to raise awareness when shoppers are buying lunch. Shoppers are also buying nibbles and treats to have at home, so confectionery sharing items – bags and boxed chocolates – should be sited with other sharing categories.”

Richard Marris, Masterfoods’ trading director, says: “Transient petrol shops need to take advantage of the impulsive additions to the lunchtime mission by making confectionery, drinks and crisps available alongside sandwiches.”

CADBURY TREBOR BASSETT

CTB’s flagship chocolate brand, Cadbury Dairy Milk, was relaunched last summer with a number of new variants added to the range. CTB says that since relaunch the Cadbury Dairy Milk megabrand has grown by 53% in forecourts – the largest growth in any channel. The brand is now worth £15.5m in forecourts alone.

There are now nine single bars and 12 x 200g variants within the CDM masterbrand portfolio, which aims to offer consumers different products for different times of the day and different occasions, such as evening indulgence, sharing or mid-morning munchies.

Mike Tipping, head of customer relations at CTB, says the company had worked hard to cater for forecourt shoppers: “CTB is committed to understanding the forecourt consumer and it is this understanding that enables CTB to grow the market.

“We do this by product excellence and innovation as well as by building on the reliability and heritage of the Cadbury brand. We now feel our chocolate confectionery portfolio can fulfill any consumer need, whether it is indulgence through CDM with Caramel or for hunger satisfaction through CDM Wafer. I am confident that innovative new product development, tightly targeted and compelling marketing activity, combined with our comprehensive range of great quality and well-loved products will help us to continue to drive the confectionery market throughout 2004.”

This month sees the launch of Cadbury Dairy Milk Wafer, which CTB reckons will fill a gap in the market. “Research indicated an opportunity existed for a product meeting the needs of younger consumers during the day, specifically in the morning, and Cadbury Dairy Milk Wafer is aimed at maximising the opportunity for profit here,” explains a CTB spokesperson. CTB says to maximise sales the new product should be sited next to coffee and hot drinks as well as on the main confectionery stand.

In terms of advertising, CTB launched its ‘Your Happiness Loves Cadbury’ masterbrand campaign last month. The initiative, which runs throughout the rest of this year and includes TV, outdoor and other advertising, incorporates sub-brands such as Flake, Crème Egg and Roses. Cadbury says its masterbrand spend for this year – including Coronation Street sponsorship – will exceed £35m, ensuring that consumers will be exposed to the Cadbury message on “an almost continual basis”.

MASTERFOODS

The big news from Masterfoods this year has been the launch of Mars Delight. Backed by £15m of marketing, it has already proven a great success in impulse channels. A more delicate, less filling version of the Mars bar with a crispy wafer, Mars Delight was designed to appeal to a core audience of women, and shortly after launch Mars Delight overtook the standard Mars bar to gain the top spot in rate of sale in impulse (AC Nielsen).

Andrea Taylor, trade relations manager at Masterfoods, comments: “Retailers and consumers are obviously very excited about Mars Delight and the sales performance of the product is extremely impressive. Mars Delight is a must-stock item and the trade response to date has been very positive. Retailers should continue to maximise sales opportunities with Mars Delight by positioning it in the best site on the confectionery fixture and ensure it is multi-faced. Point of sale is key too – good displays increase visibility and drive sales significantly.”

New for this month is the addition of White Maltesers as a permanent line following its success as a limited edition. Masterfoods says the product was the fastest-selling new bitesize product launch of 2003, with 16.5 million bags sold to date, and sales incremental to the main brand.

The new 35g bag (rrp 37p) is whiter than the limited edition, with the Maltesers logo on a bright red background. Some £2.3m is being put behind the launch with TV ads, posters and a consumer teaser campaign. Dumpbins and quick boxes will be available and Masterfoods advises retailers not to steal space from Maltesers standard or kingsize as it says the launch will drive awareness of the entire Maltesers brand and sales will be incremental.

Andrea Taylor, trade relations manager at Masterfoods, explains: “We know White Maltesers will once again be a huge success due to the consumer demand we have experienced. We strongly recommended retailers to be prepared for the rush in September.”

NESTLE ROWNTREE

Nestle has two new products hitting the shelves in September. Firstly, the company is aiming to “put the heart back into the chocolate gifting category” with the launch of Nestlé Baci, named after the Italian word for kisses. Each sweet comprises a whole hazelnut on bubbly praline in a wafer cup encased in milk and dark chocolate and wrapped in gold and red foil. Available from this month, Baci comes in two-piece impulse packs (rrp 49p), a six-piece tube (rrp £1.39) and an 18-piece gift box (rrp £3.99), and is backed by a £5m media campaign, including heavyweight TV advertising. Nestlé Rowntree’s sales communications manager Graham Walker expects Baci to be “the biggest confectionery launch of 2004”.

“The time is right for this product,” he explains. “Consumers expect great quality and are actively looking for premium gift solutions. Last year the boxed single flavours category – into which Baci fits – grew 4% ahead of the total confectionery gifting category, which in itself was up 1% year on year.

“In addition, this exiting new product comes with huge investment from Nestlé Rowntree. A three-year support programme is planned, with £28m committed to the success of the brand.”

“Our advice for retailers wishing to capitalise on Nestlé Baci would be to stock up as soon as possible after launch. Baci in particular is all about great display – therefore make sure your shoppers can’t miss the product in-store – create secondary, off-shelf displays using all available point of purchase materials from Nestlé Rowntree, and remember to keep this level of display throughout the TV advertising period as consumer demand will be huge.”

This month also sees a new indulgent range added to the KitKat brand. KitKat Editions will be 45g single finger bars, initially available in Golden Caramel and Seville Orange, both with a rrp of 42p. Full marketing plans are yet to be revealed, but Walker says: “This will be a massive launch, and the campaign will feature new TV advertising.”

FERRERO

Ferrero Rocher claims to be the number one spender on TV advertising in the boxed chocolate market, and this year it is putting £3m into pre-Christmas TV campaigns. Markus Huelsmann, Ferrero Rocher marketing manager, says: “Ferrero Rocher is one of the top-selling and most popular boxed chocolate brands in the UK. We believe that our success is due to continued high investment in TV advertising, which has a high concentration at Christmas.”

Ferrero has two new products for Christmas 2004 – the T15 is a clear Christmas tree shaped box filled with Ferrero Rocher. The company reckons that with such wide consumer appeal and a rrp of £3.99 it will be “flying off the shelves”. Meanwhile, the new T27 cube is ideal for distress purchases made in forecourts as it has a premium appearance and comes ready gift-wrapped.

For younger consumers, Ferrero’s children’s novelty chocolate brand Kinder Surprise is bringing out a collection of limited edition mole characters in time for Christmas. Mole Mission is a collection of 10 characters that children will find inside the chocolate eggs. Available from September, the eggs are available in singles (rrp 47p) or threes (rrp £1.37), and the target audience is three to seven-year olds. To help sales, bright floorstands and counter displays are available while a TV ad runs throughout October.