Introduction: Travel retail is being reshaped by changing expectations around gifting and discovery. In this guest column, Lindt & Sprüngli Head of Global Travel Retail Peter Zehnder looks at how flavour, format and storytelling are being used to create more distinctive confectionery propositions in airports.
In travel retail, the line between souvenirs and experiences is blurring. Today’s travellers want more than just something from their destination; they want to taste it, remember it and take a meaningful gift home.
At Lindt, we believe this is what our Lindt Dubai Style and Tokyo Style chocolates now offer: a series of premium, limited-edition chocolates inspired by the flavours, culture and mood of iconic destinations, crafted to reflect a unique experience in every bite.
Our latest chapter in that journey is Lindt Tokyo Style Chocolate Matcha Strawberry, a bar that fuses high-quality matcha, genmai (traditional Japanese roasted rice), white chocolate and fruity strawberry pieces into a single, sensorial experience.
This flavour-forward creation represents how Lindt is leaning into the growing global appetite for new textures and ingredients, and why travel retail is the perfect stage for an increasingly relevant ingredient like Matcha.
Flavour as a gateway
City Style editions are about embedding local flavour experiences into a gift-worthy proposition. The rise of matcha-based confectionery and Japanese style flavour pairings has already been documented in consumer trend and food media outlets, with matcha positioned as a premium, wellness adjacent ingredient that appeals to both curious snackers and discerning gourmands.
In travel retail, where discovery and indulgence go hand in hand, city-style SKUs act as flavour gateways and natural gifts: easy to pick up, perfectly portioned, and rich with a story that travellers can share.
A traveller passing through Zurich, Geneva or Frankfurt might have never tried a matcha strawberry chocolate before, but the Lindt ‘Tokyo Style’ cue – paired with our existing success stories such as Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate – signals something special, giftable and rooted in a specific place.
Ahead of the category
In addition to its flavour profile, what makes Lindt Tokyo Style Chocolate Matcha Strawberry stand out is its positioning in the market. Lindt is one of the first major premium chocolate brands to bring this Tokyo Style Matcha Strawberry expression to travel retail in a dedicated, limited-edition format, introduced in Q4 2025 and now rolling out globally.
This is significant because it signals how premium brands can move faster than category conventions, with Lindt’s chocolate-making expertise – combining the knowledge of our Maître Chocolatier with market agility – placing us at the forefront.
Instead of waiting for matcha to become a generic ‘trend of the season’, Lindt has paired that trend with a clear, ownable concept – the Tokyo Style line – and pre-launched it in major travel retail hubs, such as Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Singapore Changi airports, highlighted by engaging launch events with our partners.
From Dubai to Tokyo
Tokyo Style follows a pattern that Lindt has already validated. Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate demonstrated how a destination flavour product can become a hit in travel retail, evolving from a flagship airport launch in Zurich to a global selling star and even inspiring new formats such as countline and praline assortments.
Tokyo Style Matcha Strawberry is the next logical step as a limited‑edition bar. It offers a clearly signposted destination tie‑in (Tokyo Style) and a flavour narrative that aligns with documented consumer trends around matcha and Japanese‑style desserts.
In practice, this transforms duty-free and airport retail spaces into flavour and gifting destinations. Instead of walking past chocolate as a commodity, a traveller now encounters a series of destination experiences that invite them to choose based on memory, aspiration or curiosity – whether it’s a pistachio-infused Dubai-style bar or a serene, matcha-strawberry Tokyo-style treat.
What drives gifting today
The broader trend we are seeing is that travellers are increasingly driven by experience and meaning when it comes to gifting, not just value or price.
Research in the travel retail and food trend space shows that premium chocolate consumers are particularly receptive to locally inspired flavours, limited‑edition formats and storytelling that connects to specific destinations.
For Lindt, the Tokyo Style Chocolate Matcha Strawberry is both a premium innovation and a gifting-driven signal. It confirms that city‑style editions can be more than short‑term novelties; they can become anchor products in the gifting category that attract new customers, drive social‑media‑driven discovery and stimulate repeat visits from travellers who want to collect different city‑style experiences.
Looking ahead, our ambition is to keep expanding this city‑style playbook across other key destinations and consumer‑trend clusters, always ensuring that each new edition is: rooted in local flavours and occasions, crafted with Swiss‑style quality and precision, and positioned in travel retail as a taste‑worthy, story‑rich souvenir.
Ultimately, the best‑selling chocolates in travel retail go beyond what tastes good – they are the ones that help travellers remember where they’ve been, and who they want to bring a little taste of that journey home to. ✈
