Mars ITR shares next stage of category vision to keep confectionery relevant in a changing world

At TFWA World Exhibition & Conference this October, Mars International Travel

Retail will present the next stage of its ‘Power of a Smile’ Category Vision to

Customers (Bay Village 9).

Mars Wrigley Confectionery is globally leading the total confectionery category with more than 100 years experience of selling Chocolate, Gum and Confections. Mars is confident their suite of brands, experience and thought leadership will allow them to be the partner of choice and take the category in travel retail to a further growth to be proud of.

“The changing nature of travel retail is a hot topic,” says General Manager Gary Clarke. Key trends include rapidly changing demographics as travel becomes more affordable; the increasingly value conscious traveler; and the fight for attention in an increasingly digitalized world’.

Within this context Mars has a clear message for retailers. Confectionery is a huge growth opportunity in travel retail but to unlock this - changes are needed.

Mars ITR presents the strategies needed in their Power of a Smile Category Vision. This presents a clear and actionable strategy to drive conversion and deliver the potential of Confectionery in travel retail. Mars ITR will share three key steps to deliver this in 2018:

The first important step is to better meet the needs of travellers. To make this happen, Mars ITR will present a total confectionery offer delivering across all segments and need states in 2018.

The second important step is to make it easy for these shoppers to make a purchase. Mars have developed a simple strategy to work in partnership with retailers to drive impulsivity, maximise conversion on a store by store basis starting at the entrance of the store and finishing with the all-important checkout opportunity.

The final step is to bring new news to the category and to leverage the impact of this when doing so. Over the past year, three key areas have outperformed the total confectionery category 1) self-consumption items at entry price points, 2) value price point sharing items and 3) affordable gifting. As a result Mars will innovate in these areas in 2018 to both delight travellers and deliver a strong return from space for retailers. In addition to this when launching innovation it is important to co-locate the items with current best sellers in the category. This reminds travellers to buy products they already know and love as well as trying something new and again will help to maximise revenue for our retail partners.

Mars began their journey to drive confectionery category growth through the Power of a Smile category vision in 2015. Since then they have taken +3ppts of share and celebrated taking total confectionery category leadership for the first time in 2017.

 “We recognise that transforming confectionery is a big task, but the results we have seen give us great confidence that in partnership with our retail partners we can build a bright future for the category together” says Gary Clarke

APPENDIX 2018 INNOVATION:

For ME, offerings answering the needstate for self consumption, is a huge opportunity in the travel retail confectionery category – desired by 45% of travelers but delivering only 5% of sales today. In 2018 MITR is introducing the travel retail exclusive EXTRA ® XXL single pellet pack range, specifically designed to drive conversion at an affordable price at the checkout

For US is the heartland of the confectionery category, with bitesize pouch packs playing a key role. Mars ITR is adding to its existing strong offer with three new packs based on top-selling brands: Mars ®, Twix ® and Snickers ®. Bars Bites® will sit alongside its existing range of stand up pouches including M&M’s®, Maltesers®, and Skittles®, offering consumers bite-sized portions of global favorites in an easy-to-share format.

GIFTING remains an important element within the confectionery category with the fastest growth coming from lower priced items. To meet this need and expand the category into confections, the company is introducing a Skittles® gift tin containing 195g of the best-selling mixed fruit flavours building on the success of the iconic M&M’s® candy tin.

-ENDS-