Mars International Travel Retail brings sweet treats and a re-focus on pure pleasure to Orlando

Gum and sugar confections are the name of the game for Mars International Travel Retail (MITR) as it comes to the Duty Free Show of the Americas with new products in both its Skittles® and Extra® portfolio (booth 520). MITR has previously stated its commitment to developing the gum and sugar confections category given the enormous amount of headroom for growth in the segment. “In domestic markets, gum and sugar confections can represent over 40% of total confectionery sales and yet in travel retail they deliver less than 10% of total sales, so the potential is enormous.” says MITR Category Director, Matt Boulter. With an increasing number of retailers’ ranges incorporating gum and sugar confections, MITR is stepping up to ensure it continues to be a leader and provide solutions to unlock the potential of this ever-growing category.

New for 2016, MITR is extending its highly successful Skittles brand with the launch of a travel retail exclusive stand up pouch. Launching in July, the 18x26gr Skittles® Fruits fun size bags incorporate a convenient handle pouch for carrying on the go. This marks the first product launch in the traditional sharing/home sweet home need state by MITR in sugar confections, which will open up new travellers (and buyers) to the category.

The world’s favourite gum, Extra® will now include a true travel retail exclusive pack. With its enhanced size the new pack retains the look and feel of its distinctive domestic packaging, but the exclusive 8 pack comes in a premium and easily portable box. The 8x10 packs are available from June 2016 in the world’s favourite flavours: Extra® Spearmint, Extra® Peppermint, Extra® Whitesweet Mint, allowing consumers the much needed ear popping relief and oral care when travelling.

TFWA World Exhibition saw the official re-launch of the fifth largest domestic chocolate brand, Galaxy®. Aiming to cement the chocolate bar’s position as a top ten confectionery brand, MITR brings the brand to the Americas with high ambitions for travel retail. Currently the brand is only distributed in travel retail in parts of the Middle East and Asia, yet Galaxy® is the biggest pure chocolate brand in the domestic market. 95% of those sales are from four markets only: UK, Middle East, America and China and with these being the biggest travelling markets, MITR sees outstanding opportunity for its silky smooth brand.

Four new Galaxy® products have been created with two of MITR’s category vision concepts in mind - ‘Showing Thought’ and ‘Home Sweet Home’. They include: Galaxy® Pouches – Mini bars of Smooth Milk, Caramel and Crispy; Galaxy® Multi-Pack – Six tablets that includes 3 flavours – Smooth Milk, Caramel and Cookie Crumble (4x114g and 2x135g); and Jewels – A mixture of flavoured bonbons of Galaxy® chocolate.

These new product introductions are key elements of the delivery of MITR ‘s Laws of Growth strategy that gives compelling reasons for step-changing growth and unlocking missed opportunities within the confectionery sector through focus on core blockbuster SKUs. Showcasing how to drive sales through the conversion of lighter buyers with the Power of a Smile Category Vision, MITR will present tangible ways in which to apply the Laws of Growth and drive sales through excellence in execution in-store. All of these initiatives will be brought to life with new product development, updated displays and an exciting program of activations and promotions for 2016.

“Confectionery is perfect for driving conversion in travel retail as it is an impulsive category and full of some of the world’s most loved brands. This is as true in the Americas as anywhere with Snickers® and M&M’S® the preferred confectionery brands in the Americas at #1 and #2 respectively. Our objective for 2016 is to step change growth, with North America as a focus market, by implementing the Laws of Growth through the Power of a Smile category vision. With 50% or more of passengers not even entering the duty free/travel retail shops and only 9% buying confectionery, we see the category as a huge opportunity!” continues Matt.

-ENDS-