British fine food and gifting brand Cartwright & Butler has unveiled a refreshed visual identity, building on two years of strong growth in global travel retail.
The rebrand offers a more contemporary interpretation of the family-owned brand’s English heritage. It combines elegant archways with soft pastel tones, gold accents and colour-coded product ranges that help travellers better identify individual lines.
The refresh supports the evolution of the company’s travel retail offer centred on: F&B and snacking, affordable premium gifting, and confectionery.
In line with this, Cartwright & Butler has launched new twin-pack and single biscuit formats to address complimentary snacking occasions. Listings are already planned across British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, WHSmith and World Duty Free.
The company is developing its gifting offer with sense of place concepts and a new travel retail-exclusive (TREX) presentation alongside additional formats intended to open up new commercial opportunities.
In addition, Cartwright & Butler is expanding its confectionery offer beyond its established biscuit portfolio, with an increased focus on fudge, truffles and chocolate nuts.
Hero lines continue to underpin the travel retail business, led by the 200g Pastels biscuit tins. The company has introduced several new permanent additions, including Hazelnut & Chocolate and Maple & Pecan Dark Chocolate Biscuits, as well as seasonal innovations such as Pumpkin Spice.
It said that the Great Britain range has performed strongly driven by retailer-exclusive launches such as Ultra Thick Union Jack and Union Jack Duo Pack, and the Scotland St Andrews Flag Tin.
Cartwright & Butler is supporting the revamped portfolio with an expanded activation programme. Recent August executions in London Heathrow terminals 3 and 5 and London Stansted Airport brought the Great Britain range to life and featured an interactive Spin the Wheel mechanic.
In September, the brand’s new snacking twin-pack will be promoted as part of the popular WHSmith meal deal offer.
Cartwright & Butler’s refreshed Shortbread Collection also delivered positive results following its relaunch, supported by a successful high-profile promotion in Edinburgh.
Cartwright & Butler Global Travel Retail Business Development Manager Julie Feryn commented, “Cannes is an important opportunity for us to showcase how Cartwright & Butler is evolving while staying true to the quality and craftsmanship that have always been at the heart of the brand.
“We are committed to leveraging the strong momentum we have built in travel retail over the past two years to extend our footprint internationally, with Asia and the Middle East among the key areas of focus.”
She added, “As an agile business, we are able to listen, learn and respond quickly to retailer requirements and consumer expectations, and Cannes will be an important opportunity to gain further insight into the channel, while sharing our plans for the future – including our three-year pipeline of product innovations.
“Our compelling story is one of our most valuable assets, and by combining that heritage with a streamlined, commercially focused new product development strategy, we see significant potential to build awareness, increase market share and create long-term growth with our partners.”
Cartwright & Butler will present the new visual identity at a redesigned stand at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes (P14, Mediterranean Village). ✈
