One in every three shoppers walking into a c-store has at least one child in their household. That’s according to figures in Harris International Marketing (Him)’s Convenience Tracking Programme (CTP) 2009. And with suppliers increasingly catering for the kids’ market, and parents keen to keep youngsters happy on car journeys, petrol retailers are ideally placed to make the most of this sector.
There are plenty of companies launching new children’s products this summer, including Wrigley which is targeting kids with its new Starburst Smoothies. Available in three flavours: strawberry & banana; blueberry, strawberry & yoghurt; and mango & passion, Wrigley says the sweets merge the taste of fruit with creamy yoghurt flavour ’to give the ultimate sweet combination’. The sweets come in sticks (rrp 39p) - said to be more suited to impulse purchases by youngsters and teenagers - as well as large sharing packs (rrp £1.37).
In addition, Starburst Choozers and Skittles are getting a revamp, with a new flavour for Choozers - apple & orange - and a more colourful pack design for Skittles.
Meanwhile, Pepsico has launched a new Tropicana drink aimed specifically at youngsters. The 100% pure juice offering, Tropicana Kids!, is aimed at mums looking for healthy children’s drinks. According to the company, natural drinks are already a huge market in the UK, with pure juice consumed by children 954 million times each year as part of breakfast (TNS 12 w/e August 2008). The 1ltr juice drinks come in two flavours: strawberry & raspberry; and apple & blackcurrant, with a rrp of £1.99.
In addition, Tropicana Go! has been rebranded as Tropicana Kids! - the 70% pure juice, 30% water drink comes in a 200ml format - claimed to be the ideal size for lunchboxes.
Meanwhile the Sunny Delight Beverage Company (SDBC) has launched new Sunny D, which has no added sugar, artificial flavours, artificial colours or preservatives and has an increased juice content of up to 70%. It is available in Florida style, Caribbean and apple & blackcurrant flavours. The company says the key to the new formulation has been understanding what motivates parents in buying products for their children, and it set up the Sunny D Parents Advisory Group in 2005 to help shape future product development.
It is available in 1ltr bottles (rrp £1.45), 330ml bottles (rrp 95p) and a 4x330ml pack (rrp £3.25). The company says the new prices reflect the "higher costs resulting from the increased levels of fruit juice used and the natural ingredients".
Back to sweets, and to celebrate bringing back its ice cream flavour chews, Chewits has launched a campaign to promote ’active lifestyles’ for children aged four to 12. The company says more than 125,000 children will be reached directly via school sports courses which will run daily during school holidays at more than 175 UK locations.
And with experts predicting a scorching summer this year, don’t forget to stay well stocked up with sun screen. Nivea Sun’s new Children’s Pocket Size comes in SPF 30 and SPF 50, and is said to be perfect for impulse purchases. Specially developed for children’s sensitive skin, the light and non-sticky formula is designed to be easy for mums or kids to apply and gives immediate sun protection. The cute packaging aims to make it more attractive to children while the size makes it lighter for parents to carry (rrp £4.99).
Finally, Elastoplast has launched Knee and Elbow plasters for kids which feature different characters from the Finding Nemo film (rrp £2.99).
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