Mars International Travel Retail (MITR) will introduce Bitesize Pouch Packs for its top-selling brands at next month’s Summit of the Americas (booth 523).
The new Pouch Packs, called Bars Bites, will be available for Mars, Twix and Snickers. They will sit alongside Mars ITR’s existing range of stand-up pouches, including M&M’s, Maltesers and Skittles.
MITR Category Manager Robert Posthumus said: “It’s vital to innovate based on what’s working. We’ve come up with Bitesize Pouch Packs because we know that they’ll appeal to travellers and deliver a strong return on space for retailers.”
In terms of promoting the Bars Bites in travel retail, MITR said it recommends co-locating the Bitesize Pouches with current best-sellers within the confectionery category. “This reminds travellers to buy products they already know and love as well as trying something new,” said Posthumus.
Activations will focus on encouraging multiple-pack purchases, supported by promoting products of a particular pack size. “This gives us the perfect opportunity to introduce the new Bitesize Pouch Packs alongside our existing sharing lines,” commented Posthumus.
“Confectionery is a huge growth opportunity in travel retail but to unlock this, changes are still needed” – MITR Category Manager Robert Posthumus
According to Generation Research, MITR has consistently outperformed the confectionery category over the last 12 months. MITR said this is down to its consistent category vision that aims to drive confectionery conversion on the shop floor through the right range, clear display and impactful activation.
Posthumus continued: “Confectionery is a huge growth opportunity in travel retail but to unlock this, changes are still needed. The first important step is to better meet the needs of travellers. To make this happen, we are presenting a total confectionery offer that delivers across all segments and need states in 2018.
“The second important step is to make it easy for the shopper to make a purchase. We have been developing a simple strategy to work in partnership with retailers to drive impulse purchase and to maximise conversion on a store by store basis. The final step is to bring news to the category and to leverage the impact of this when doing so.”
Posthumus concluded: “The last 12 months has shown that the total category is up in the Americas. MITR is one of the key drivers of this growth, due to the focus on leading brands and best-sellers, with increased in-store invisibility across the region subsequently driving category conversion.
“I am also proud to report that MITR is the only supplier in the top three of all confectionery segments (chocolate, confections and gum), so is the number one choice to lead total confectionery growth.”
