“We anticipate a lot of growth in the European market”
Deo Perfume Candy was launched back in 2011 by Alpi Commerce in Asenovgrad, Bulgaria and sold in Bulgaria from its inception. In its first year the candy also won an innovation award in Geneva. The product is a result of a few years collaboration between Alpi and Beneo, a nutrition company in Belgium.
In June 2012, DG Imports found the product and thought it was such a unique concept that we instantly worked on building a relationship with the manufacturer and gained an exclusive contract for the product in the UK.
Many are intrigued by the DEO Perfume Candy and one of the first questions we are asked is, “How does it work?”
How does Deo Candy work?
magine you have been eating a meal containing garlic, the next day you experience a garlic aroma emitting from your pores. Deo Candy works in the same way.
Back in 2006 a group of scientists from Japan were looking into aroma research centred on “exhalation of aromatic compounds from human skin after oral intake.” This research went to lengths in proving how natural compounds found in food can allow smells to come through the pores and geraniol was one such compound.
Geraniol is found in rose oil. In small doses it allows the rose oil scent to come through the skin’s pores. Each candy contains 3mg of geraniol and a person of 145lb requires 3.6mg of geraniol for the perfume smell to come through the skin’s pores. This means that two candies would allow someone of 145lbs to enjoy up to six hours of the flowery rose like fragrance.
Popularity
From June until October 2012 we were working behind the scenes collating market intelligence on the product prior to launch, it was through this market research we realised that this was going to be very popular.
Upon launch at the end of November we experienced unprecedented media attention worldwide because of the unique concept of mixing a candy treat and a beauty product into one. Whilst this was great, it has been the consumer’s reaction that has had the biggest impact, with people buying six, 12 and even 20 boxes at a time from nearly all countries across Europe.
Markets
The candy is available in the US (via importer Ecodeum LLC), Spain, Latvia and Lithuania through other companies, but we have been selling across the whole of the EU with the exception of the European countries mentioned at www.perfumecandyuk.com
The success has been huge, but the biggest successes have been in the UK, Italy, Germany and France where consumers have really shown an attraction for the product. We have also started delivering the product to retailers in France and Italy.
We anticipate a lot of growth in the European market, especially in Western Europe where we have found many retailers and wholesalers enquiring about stocking the product.
So far the biggest problem encountered has been the requirement for language translation. Currently the product packaging is only available in two languages, but we are looking at changing this to offer multiple languages.
The product has just been launched in Spain by the company Tu Caramelo. Lithuania and Latvia are currently trialling small orders for testing.
Confectionery trends
Whilst we are mainly focussing on the Deo Perfume Candy at present, we do offer other confectionery products. The biggest trend we have noticed is that consumers are becoming more aware of ingredients in products and because of this it has become more important to review product ingredients as well as quality, taste and packaging.
We have seen a huge shift towards vegetarian confectionery in the UK; this is largely due to the number of religious communities in the UK where eating animal based products has special requirements. This means wholesalers prefer to purchase vegetarian products to cater for all markets. Because of this shift we are continually looking to increase our vegetarian portfolio.
The future is bright for confectionery. We are continually surprised by innovation in the sector and with products like Deo Candy being brought to the markets it’s of no surprise that consumers are becoming savvier about their confectionery.
There is a large question of whether products with additional benefits, like Deo Candy, will see a growth in popularity in confectionery markets. Whilst these products are unique we don’t anticipate the traditional confectionery markets to be greatly affected.
By Dave Newby, managing director of Imports DG
