Sugar rush

Consumers may have put plans for a new car or an exotic holiday on hold, but they still need a little something to cheer them up. And that ‘little something’ often includes sweets. Kids are still spending pocket money on sweets and adults are treating themselves and their offspring with an injection of sugar from time to time.

Although popular with all age groups, sugar confectionery’s biggest following is from children. Hancocks senior buyer Jonathan Summerley says outlets close to schools or colleges are in a good position, but they still need to work at it. “There’s no doubt that a good range of children’s products will sell well, but you should still keep looking to change at least 20% of your range on a regular basis to keep your customers interested. Children love something that’s a bit different.”

He says there continues to be a trend towards softer-eating sugar confectionery. “We’ve recently launched a weighout line called Fruit Sticks and it’s experiencing tremendous sales. Other sectors such as liquorice, fizzy, sour and jellies are also seeing good growth.

“Children’s novelty products always perform well and there is no shortage of new varieties coming onto the market. Skulls & Bones and Sour Tongues are recent entrants which are selling well.”

Perfetti Van Melle marketing director Mark Stangroom says ‘soft and chewy’ is a big trend. “Fruittella sales are reaching record levels and showing no signs of slowing, which indicates that consumers are very interested in this category.”

Rowntree’s latest offering, Randoms, covers all bases with four different textures, six flavours and 70 shapes.

According to Helen Sears, group marketing manager at Tangerine Confectionery, c-stores need to ensure they offer customers a wide choice. “That means rather than just stocking standards such as wine gums and liquorice allsorts, they should consider more unusual products such as toasted teacakes and coconut mushrooms. Consumers are always interested in trying new products, but they also feel a great deal of nostalgia for classic confectionery and c-stores need to reflect this in their stock.”

There’s also the health trend to consider. Wrigley’s Extra is the number-one sugar confectionery brand, despite the fact it doesn’t actually contain any sugar. But while sugar-free may be big news in gum and mints it hasn’t yet caught on in a huge way across the entire sugar confectionery market.

In fruit sweets, the move to go healthier has been through replacing artificial colours and flavours with natural ones.

Tangerine’s Sears says: “All the feedback we are getting from customers is that they are increasingly interested in natural colours and flavours. We have been moving the most of our products to natural colours and flavours. We have also adopted a policy of no added salt and many of our products are Halal approved.”

Cadbury’s answer to the health issue was the launch of The Natural Confectionery Company (TNCC). Cadbury trade communications manager Kate Harding says TNCC has added £4m to the sugar confectionery category. It’s a good start, but still not a major force when you compare it to Cadbury’s Maynards brand or Nestlé’s Rowntree range.

Cathy Dalton, trade marketing manager for Leaf brands at Bendicks Mayfair, comments: “At the moment there is no indication of major shifts in consumer behaviour. Research undertaken by Chewits indicates that parents understand the need to control the amount of sugar and fat that they and their kids consume. But they also recognise it’s all about moderation.

“Confectionery is all about a special treat and they are open to products that may have reduced sugar or fat, but they must taste good - kids, particularly, aren’t willing to compromise

on taste.”

Within chocolate, there are a few brands that account for massive amount of sales, but with sugar the picture is much more fragmented. Hancocks’ Summerley thinks this means there is plenty of opportunity for c-store retailers to profit from own label products and lesser-known branded items. Hancocks offers a wide range of these type of products and last year Spar launched the Sweet Things range, which includes favourites such as Fried Eggs, Cola Bottles and Strawberry Laces. All 12 products are on a permanent multibuy promotion of ‘3 for £1’.

Sugar lines sell all year round, but there are times when they really come into their own. Perfetti Van Melle’s Stangroom says: “The summer months are traditionally oriented towards sugar confectionery, especially when the weather is good. Even if retailers have refrigerated units for chocolate, consumers often fancy something fruity. And whereas Easter is more of a chocolate occasion, Halloween is more sugar-oriented. In fact, Halloween is the biggest-selling period for lollipops in the whole year.”

A new product that looks set to come into its own at Halloween is Chupa Chups Magics. The fizzy powder-filled lollipops come in three flavours: cola & lime, mango & apple and cherry & vanilla. To boost awareness of the Chupa Chups brand there will be an extensive sampling campaign to more than two million consumers during 2009.

Haribo is a company that gets behind Halloween in a big way with its Horror and Magic Mix sweets. “These special Halloween-shaped treats are heavily promoted through merchandise such as shelf wobblers and dumpbins,” says the company’s managing director Herwig Vennekens.

Stangroom says Perfetti Van Melle will continue to work on npd during 2009. “A combination of npd and strong selling core lines is the best portfolio to offer to retailers in any climate and especially at the moment.” He points to recent new products including the Chupa Mini Bag of five mini lollipops, Fruittella Fruit Filled and Fruittella Liquorice and Fruit.

In Smint there’s a new Xtra Strong variety and Mentos is launching a Rainbow roll, where the consumer is guaranteed to receive each of seven flavours.

Vennekens says variety in pack formats for a range of occasions is also important. “We offer 10p bags alongside pocket money packs and larger share bags. This promotes choice and a variety of price points, which opens the market to cater for a wider audience base.”

Bendicks’ Dalton has the final say: “Big brands can dominate and their planograms are not always in the interest of the retailer, especially when there is repetition of the same SKU. C-store customers want variety and choice, and the planograms don’t always help achieve this goal. Smaller stores should make the most of their space. For example, smaller products such as stick packs render more free space to sell a greater range of products.”