Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) will launch its latest range of Mentos and Chupa Chups novelty and gift items at next month’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore (Stand: B2 E29).
The confectionery and gum distributor noted a strong year in travel retail, with double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific region in 2015 driven by core retail brands Mentos and Chupa Chups.
Perfetti Van Melle Area Manager for Asia Pacific Estee Teo said: “Sales growth for the region was led by China and Australia. These two countries have helped to salvage sales losses in Malaysian airports, which were hit strongly in 2015 and unable to deliver the results seen during the pre-crisis days.
“In 2015 we focused on getting the right fixtures and, in some cases, new fixtures in the top stores. We also worked on analysing current assortment and partnering with key customers to maximise the return on investment of their shelf space.”
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Mentos and Chupa Chupa: big players in the Perfetti Van Melle portfolio for TFWA Asia Pacific |
PVM’s distribution in Asia Pacific has grown with the opening and renovations of several new stores including Seoul, Okinawa, Haikou, Taipei and Danang.
“We are expecting more stores to open in 2016, furthering our distribution push into new and existing airports and can confidently say that new stores will contribute significantly to growth expansion in the region,” Teo added.
Perfetti Van Melle Global Travel Retail Manager Susan De Vree added: “With a newly dedicated ASPAC team based in Asia, we were able to invest a significant time on training sales and operations staff in major airports, ensuring these key retail outlets had staff with excellent product knowledge, assortment and category management skills.
“2016 looks to be a year of opportunities despite a slow start to the first quarter. However, with the roll out of new products for this year, which we have just started to ship, we are enthusiastic at what 2016 has to bring.”
New lines for Singapore include the Mentos Book, described as a premium gift item for (young) adults and the Mentos Mini Ufo Dispenser which comes with eight mini Mentos rolls in cola, orange, lemon and strawberry flavours and nine stickers.
Chupa Chups Sweet Magnet includes Love you, Miss you, Want you and Thank you magnets with eight different mini fruity lollipops and the Chupa Chups Pouch Bag Mini Sour contains 40 mixed sour fruit mini lollipops.
Mentos Now Mints, exclusive to travel retail, offers three tastes: Sweet Mint, Strawberry & Euca Menthol. Each tin contains 120 mints.
The Chupa Chups Fun Pen, with edible ink, contains four strawberry lollipops, two pens and two edible wafers.