Spooktacular sales ahead
Following a scarily strong Halloween season for Kraft Foods in 2011, this year it is introducing some creepy new treats, as well as extending its existing portfolio with gruesome new pack formats hoping to scare the cobwebs away from retailer’s tills.
In addition, the confectionery manufacturer is launching a package of responsible retailing advice with the sole aim of helping retailers manage seasons more effectively and efficiently. With Seasons Made Simple Kraft Foods is urging retailers to plan in advance for each occasion and focus on best sellers in order to make the most of the overall seasonal sales.
After a very eventful summer, the next key focus for Kraft Foods is the autumn season, bringing the fun and excitement of Halloween to consumers and retailers. Halloween is the third biggest retail event of the year, following Christmas and Easter, and is now worth a monster £45.5m, of which Kraft Foods has a majority 36% share of the category. Despite a tight year for UK consumers, Halloween sales remained flat in 2011, with Kraft Foods performing ahead of the market, at +14.6% growth, equating to over £2m in values sales.
In 2011, growth in the category was driven by self-eat products, with the sector up 112% YoY and is now worth £3.4m. Within this, Kraft Foods product, Cadbury Screme Egg was responsible for the majority of the uplift, growing by £1.5m and becoming the top selling Halloween product. As a result, Kraft Foods now has a 60% share of the Halloween self-eat sector.
The self-eat sector creates a particularly great opportunity to elongate the season, with consumers starting to purchase Cadbury Screme Eggs from as early as mid-September. In 2012, Kraft Foods is continuing to support its number one selling Halloween product, which has been improved to make the goo-lish green fondant centre even more garish, and advises retailers to use it to signpost the start of the season in-store.
This year, Kraft Foods is seeking to attract new shoppers to the self-eat category with Cadbury Crunchy Spiders – Cadbury chocolate, filled with green crunchy bites and wrapped in foil featuring two spooky spider character designs and creepy crawly legs built into the packaging design. This new Halloween offering aims to appeal to mums, helping to drive incremental sales and deliver on the fun of the season.
Dual display solutions are available for Cadbury Screme Egg and Cadbury Crunchy Spiders, so that retailers can merchandise them together, providing consumers with a wider variety of choice and helping to drive early impulsive sales.
From early October, shoppers begin to plan for parties and other sharing occasions, creating the largest bespoke Halloween segment, worth £7.6m.
New for Halloween 2012 is the dead-licious Cadbury Dead Heads 150g bag, increased from 80g to give the product a clear positioning within the party/sharing occasion and a recommended line for the smaller store.
Also being introduced is a goo-lish extension of the number one selling Halloween sku, a 150g sharing bag of Cadbury Screme Egg Minis. This new gruesome treat provides shoppers with their favourite Halloween novelty in a format which is highly relevant for the season.
Clipstrips are available for Cadbury Screme Egg Minis to offer retailers secondary site solutions to drive impulsive purchases outside of the core Halloween confectionery space.
Within Halloween, candy is also a key area of confectionery. Over the past two years, the total candy market has grown +43%. Within this, The Natural Confectionery Company (TNCC) Spooky Treats jelly sweets is a top three selling Halloween sugar bag and the brand’s super sour Cauldron’s Mix also tantalises the taste buds of teens and young adults in particular.
As we get closer to the event, families prepare for trick-or-treaters, so retailers should stock up on the top brands to make the most of the £31.8m segment. Kraft Foods offers treatsize packs of key favourites, such as Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel and Cadbury Crunchie.
Amy Beresford, brand manager, Halloween at Kraft Foods, comments, “Halloween represents a great opportunity for retailers to really have some fun in-store with spooky decorations and dedicated displays really helping encourage shoppers to buy into the season.
“In recent years consumers’ emphasis on the season has remained strong and by supporting their favourite brands in store, such as Cadbury, all retailers can maximise on the occasion and boost sales. With Cadbury Screme Egg, Cadbury Crunchy Spiders and Cadbury Deadheads, it’s really simple for independent retailers and convenience stores to get involved with this season too. The key is to be prepared early using iconic products, such as Cadbury Screme Egg, to sign-post the start of the season from mid-September.”
