Haribo World Travel Retail is poised to showcase its colourful new range of sharing confectionery at the upcoming TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition (stand C28, basement 2).
New Haribo Pick & Party 748g is a “generous-sized” assortment of mini-bags of Goldbears, Happy Cola, Starmix, Tropifrutti and Roulette. The products are housed in a “premium quality” hang-sell pouch with a silhouette-cut side.
Travel-exclusive resealable pouches of Haribo Air-Parade, Goldbears, Happy Cola and Starmix in 750g and 250g sizes have been developed for shelf display and check-out combinations. The resealable zip bags ensure the contents stay fresh while travelling.
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Bringing fun to travel retail: new Haribo items include resealable pouches and Twist ‘n’ Stick | |
For children, the brand has created travel retail exclusive Twist ‘n’ Stick, which combines jellies with a creative activity. The pack contains mini-bags of Tangfastics, Starmix and Goldbears and a set of stickers to dress the Goldbear character in holiday outfits.
Described as a premium gift, the giant Haribo bear-shaped perspex gift box is filled with 35 mini Haribo Goldbear bags. A red and blue ribbon is tied around the bear’s waist.
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“We believe sugar is one of the categories that can add more fun and attractive products. Unfortunately, in some areas it is still under-represented in the travel retail channel.“ |
Juan Cabrera Head of Travel Retail Haribo |
Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report at the recent IAADFS show in Orlando, Haribo Head of Travel Retail Juan Cabrera said that the brand aims to be fun and affordable while offering premium quality packets and top quality contents. “The new products boost our offer in the gifting and sharing segments; they appeal to all cultures and nationalities and suit the children’s segment in particular which is poorly served in travel retail. They also make a welcome change for many consumers from chocolate.”
The sharing segment makes up 90% of Haribo’s travel retail sales, while the remaining 10% is gifting purchases. The company believes that with the introduction of new products such as the 250g resealable pouches, that split can be reduced and new segments such as self-indulgence can be added.
For travel retail, the brand’s strongest markets are in Central Europe and Scandinavia; both represent more than 60% of Haribo’s sales in the channel. The brand company revealed it is now keen to expand in Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. “Our special focus is now on the growth markets in Asia and also the Middle East. In 2014, 99% of our sales were in Europe, whereas today we are present in all regions and Europe represents 80% of our sales, which is roughly in accordance with sugar’s worldwide split,” Cabrera noted.
“In one year we have been able to launch in areas where we were not even present in December 2014,” he added. “The Americas and the Middle East are leading this expansion, where our sales are already 10% of the total and in Asia we have doubled our presence with clients in the last six months.”
Cabrera believes there is “great” potential for the sugar category in travel retail despite it being poorly represented. “With strong passenger growth, it [travel retail] is very attractive for us as a sales and visibility channel.
“We believe sugar is one of the categories that can add more fun and attractive products. Unfortunately, in some areas it is still under-represented in the travel retail channel. Travel retail also provides Haribo with an entry point into some domestic markets.”
The company describes its confectionery as the “perfect all-rounder”, appealing to a wide-ranging audience. “Historically, Scandinavia and Northern Europe have been our biggest clientele, but thanks to the expansion of the brand in many areas in domestic, such as USA, Brazil, Asia and Middle East, we are profiting from those new markets to also develop our presence in major airports in those areas,” Cabrera stated.
The company, which is positioned in the top three brands for sugar sales in travel retail, believes that originality is the key to growing its share of the confectionery category. “We believe in innovation to keep the offer fresh, with new developments such as our unusual Haribo Twist ‘n’ Stick SKU, which is both a treat and entertainment for children.
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Left: through use of its gondolas Haribo endeavours to show retailers that minimum space is required for its products; right: the new Pick & Party hang-sell pouch | |
“We are also developing a series of quality gift presentations for our popular brands, like the Haribo Goldbear bear-shaped Perspex gift box, as well as new concepts with our pouches that will also enlarge our presence in other markets such as our series for the USA and Brazil and our Halal range,” noted Cabrera.
In Cabrera’s opinion, some retailers have yet to recognise the potential of sugar and the fact it can add value to the duty free offer in airports. He added that confectionery is gradually gaining space in travel retail although some retailers still need to create the sugar differentiation in their shops. “In Scandinavia, for example, where sugar is a big part of the business, some retailers create events just for sugar brands and even allocate as much space for them as for the chocolate brands.
“Confectionery is an excellent footfall driver which satisfies the impulse or temptation factor, the gifting market and the sharing opportunities. Haribo wants to benefit from this opportunity with new ideas and key partnerships.”
Cabrera emphasised that Haribo is aiming to stop the belief that sugar is just for cash points, or an extra part of the shop with low visibility. “We want to partner with retailers to develop enhanced visibility for sugar. Some competitors are also doing this and we think we will be seeing at least some progress on this with certain retailers in the months to come.”
Following the introduction of the brand’s travel retail exclusive gondola in 2013, Cabrera revealed that Haribo wants to create new possibilities for airport space. “Even where retailers may say space is not available, we try to show that we can fit in some new displays for the launch of the brand,” he commented.
“For many retailers the brand is new so we have a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how we can use space with easy examples. Gondolas and stand-alones are expensive to manufacture but they are also an opportunity to enhance visibility and bring fun to the locations.”
Cabrera said the company is both excited and curious about what it can bring to travel retail. “Whenever you say that you work for Haribo, automatically the person in front of you smiles. That happiness is what we want to offer.
“Before we were present in only a few retailers, with little strategy behind us, hardly any team and not even targeting new markets. Things have changed today,” Cabrera concluded.
