Mars ITR is the number one choice to lead category growth

The Summit of the Americas show in Orlando sees Mars International Travel Retail focus on long-term consumer favorites in bitesize pouch packs. Shareable formats play a key role in appealing to the needs of the travelling consumer and growing the confectionery category (booth 523).

Three new variants will be introduced to travel retail, based on top-selling brands: Mars, Twix and Snickers. Bars Bites will sit alongside its existing range of stand up pouches including M&M, Maltesers, and Skittles, offering consumers bite-sized portions of global favourites in an easy-to-share format.

“It’s vital to innovate based on what’s working. We’ve come up with Bitesize Pouch Packs because we know that they’ll both appeal to travellers and deliver a strong return on space for retailers,” explains MITR Category Manager Robert Posthumus.

Promoting new lines is key, of course, and for 2018 the recommendation is to co-locate  with current best-sellers within the category. “This reminds travellers to buy products they already know and love as well as trying something new,” says Posthumus. In terms of activation, the emphasis is on encouraging multiple-pack purchases, enabled by promoting products of a particular packsize.

“This gives us the perfect opportunity to introduce the new Bitesize Pouch Packs alongside our existing sharing lines,” Posthumus continues.

Coming up with concepts such as the Bitesize Pouch Packs as part of its category vision, is just one reason why Mars ITR is proud to be reported by Generation Research as the confectionery category leader consistently outperforming the category over the last 12 months. This result has been driven by a consistent category vision that aims to drive confectionery conversion on the shop floor through the right range, clear display and impactful activation.

But the work is far from over.

“Confectionery is a huge growth opportunity in travel retail but to unlock this – changes are still needed,” continues Posthumus. “The first important step is to better meet the needs of travellers. To make this happen, we are presenting a total confectionery offer that delivers across all segments and need states in 2018. The second important step is to make it easy for the shopper to make a purchase. We have been developing a simple strategy to work in partnership with retailers to drive impulse purchase and to maximise conversion on a store by store basis. The final step is to bring new news to the category and to leverage the impact of this when doing so.”

In Orlando, MITR is looking forward to discussing its category vision with retailers from throughout the continent.

“The last 12 months has shown that the total category is up in the Americas,” continues Posthumus. “MITR is one of the key drivers of this growth, due to the focus on leading brands and bestsellers, with increased instore invisibility across the region subsequently driving category conversion. I am also proud to report that MITR is the only supplier in the top 3 of all different confectionery segments (chocolate, confections and gum), so is the number one choice to lead total confectionery growth.”