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Harison UK has launched its premium Harison brand of chocolates exclusively into travel retail, marked by an official presentation to the trade in Dubai last week.
The global launch, which took place on 26 September at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, was attended by several leading travel retailers in the region – from Indonesia to India to the Maldives, and the Middle East – as well as The Moodie Report. The event was organised by Sweet Garden Travel Retail, which has been appointed by Harison UK as the exclusive travel retail distributor and marketing partner for the new brand.
Harison UK Ltd engaged in various business ventures and was considering a foray into the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector when it was acquired by Lord Brand UK Ltd in 2009. It now has its sights set on the confectionery category in travel retail, which has grown exponentially well over the past ten years.
Positioned as “The People’s Brand”, Harison was developed exclusively for the duty free and travel retail channel with an aim toward delivering additional growth to the confectionery category.
In conceptualising the new brand, the company adopted the perspective of a travel retailer instead of a brand company. “What are travel retailers really looking for? What is the vision of the travel retailer? What are the strategies they follow in the life span of a concession? Those are important questions, as brands can go in a completely different direction from what travel retailers really want,” explained Sweet Garden Travel Retail Managing Director Shibu Thomas.
“You can frame a retailer’s vision in many ways – long term, short term, etc. – but in essence, it always comes back to one thing: retailers in travel retail are looking to sell more, to more customers, more often and more effectively,” Thomas added.
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Harison was presented to several leading travel retailers at the global launch, led by Sweet Garden Travel Retail Managing Director Shibu Thomas (top) |
Harison is a brand that is closely aligned with this retailer vision and strategy. Its 100% exclusivity to the travel retail channel eliminates the challenge of comparability with the domestic markets, allowing for margin flexibility while offering consumers a unique gifting and also sharing product range. Ultimately, the brand aims to drive penetration, conversion and passenger spend rate for retailers.
Using “the best source for the right product”, Harison offers the best European domicile chocolates – from truffles to pralines – produced from the finest ingredients and recipes from their country of origin. Chocolates from Belgium, Italy and Switzerland will come under the Harison brand umbrella, with a strong focus on their provenance.
The company has been working closely with European chocolate manufacturers to develop special recipes for the brand, organising hundreds of blind tastings with consumers. “Quality is our top priority. There is no compromise; we did not leave anything to chance,” Thomas stressed.
Underlining its positioning as “The People’s Brand”, Harison has adopted a best value-for-money pricing concept that ensures its products are accessible to all demographics and socioeconomic profiles in travel retail, Thomas added.
Six SKUs will be offered initially in box and sharing bag formats, with six additional SKUs to be introduced in the first quarter of 2015. Harison will begin supply globally from October 2014.
The initial offer includes:
Pralines 240g (Belgium) – An assortment of 20 milk, white and dark chocolate pralines in a 240g box.Recommended sale price (RSP): US$14.00
Flake Truffles 250g (Belgium) – A 250g box of 16 pieces of milk chocolate flake truffles. RSP: US$14.00
Sea Shells 250g (Belgium) – A 250g box of 20 chocolate sea shells. RSP: US$10.00
Truffles 400g (Italy) – An assortment of individually wrapped chocolate truffles in a 400g sharing bag. RSP: US$10.00
Truffles 700g (Italy) – An assortment of individually wrapped chocolate truffles in a 700g sharing bag. RSP: US$16.00
Truffles 1000g (Italy) – An assortment of individually wrapped chocolate truffles in a 700g sharing bag. RSP: US$22.00
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Harison offers the best European domicile chocolates – from truffles to pralines – produced from the finest ingredients and recipes from their country of origin |
The product packaging, in brown and cream, has been designed to portray a premium and elegant image. Simple product imagery and minimal text are set against a background featuring a motif of the Harison crown. The text “˜Belgium’ and “˜Italian’ allude to the recipes’ countries of origin.
Thomas said: “Harison UK and Sweet Garden Travel Retail have developed a complete marketing strategy to help its travel retail partners by bringing in the products the industry was lacking and creating customer-centric promotions, as well as providing a one-stop-shop experience. Our aim is to maximise penetration by offering the best offer on a value-for-money product range, which will benefit the retailer and the consumer altogether.
“To see how we can help retailers maximise their sales potential, we are happy to share this strategy. We will be in Cannes during the week of the TFWA World Exhibition to meet with retailers to deliver the results where others have failed. Sweet Garden Travel Retail has always retained its top three sales ranking in all the stores where it is present, and we can offer the same benefits to other retailers who aim high,” he concluded.
For more information, contact Sweet Garden Travel Retail Managing Director Shibu Thomas, e-mail: shibu@sweetgarden.ae.
