Mentos is Asking You to PAY IT FORWARD

 

October 2018

 

This year, Mentos will help make FRESH CONNECTIONS with Big Brothers Big Sisters during the 2018 Back to School season. In 2018, Mentos is giving you the hance to PAY IT FORWARD by sharing a discount on mentos products you love with friends and also enabling fresh connections through a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America®. This promotion started on August 1st and will run through October 31, 2018.

 

Mentos will introduce the Limited Edition “Say Hello” roll as a flow-through for Mint and Fruit 14pc during the promotion. Each piece will have 1 of 34 greetings printed! This promotions works by texting “connections” to a number and receiving a coupon for a discounted Mentos Say Hello Roll. Shoppers are then encourages to share the coupon with a friend, classmate etc. For every coupon redeemed, Mentos will make a donate to the Big Brother Big Sisters organization to help make life-long connections.

 

There will be dedicated marketing for this promotion to drive awareness including dedicated digital campaign to support and reach shoppers near point of impulse. In addition, these campaings will be optimized based on learnings from 2017. But what is in it for a retailer? This promotion coupons will push customers back to the store ad well as create excitement at the store. Dedicated displays are available for each promotion as well as external media support. Shoppers will love the chance to give back to Big Brothers Big Sisters with every Mentos purchase.

​Introducing Airheads® Brand Packaging Refresh June 2018 Perfetti Van Melle has just announced a packaging refresh for their Airheads brand. In order to better unify their brands and elevate their positioning, the brand has developed brand new packaging. The new packaging delivers meaningful improvements in stop/hold/close measures. The new packaging grabs consumers attention with a 42% increase in unaided brand recall. It also helps consumers navigate items and their benefits quickly. With the new packaging, there is a significant increase in speed to final product consumers are looking for, about 12-30% faster. Lastly, it gets the product in the cart with price appeal. This increase the franchise share by 20%. The new packaging performs higher on key equity attributes:  • Is good for the whole family 68% to 72% • Is a brand I love 73% to 77% • Graphics make it easier to tell difference between versions 76% to 78% • Is a high-quality product 77% to 82% • Packaging brings to life the Airheads brand 79% to 84% • Brand provides playful fun experience 82% to 84% • Has a visually appealing package 82% to 87% Below is a list of the products that have received the packaging refresh:  • 9oz Soft Filled Bites • 9oz Xtremes Sourfuls • 30oz Xtremes Bites • 5ct Check Stand Pack • 5ct Check Stand Counter Unit • 9ct Check Stand Pack • 60ct & 90ct Gravity Feed Box • Fruit Bites 2oz • Soft Filled Bites 6oz • Xtremes Rainbow Berry Belt 2oz • Xtremes Rainbow Berry Bites 2oz • Xtremes Rainbow Berry Bites 6oz

Airheads Exceeds Category Growth Year-Over-Year

Airheads & Xtremes Growth is Currently Over 4 Times Category Growth

 

April 2018

 

The Airheads brand is one of the fastest leading brands in the non-chocolate candy segment. The well-known, popular brand has a 4% share in the non-chocolate candy segment and sales grew 6.9% in 2017! Perfetti Van Melle non-chocolate brands are consistently exceeding category growth with Airheads and Xtremes growth that is currently FOUR TIMES category growth. In addition, sour is a huge trend in confection. Sour is growing faster than non-chocolate and makes up a large portion of growth dollars. Sour items are also up 8.4% compared to total non-chocolate of 3.1%. This trend is still growing in ALL channels.

 

New to the Airheads brand is the Xtremes Bites 30.4oz, Airheads Soft Filled Bites Stand Up Bags and Airheads Sourfuls Stand Up Bars. The new Xtremes Bites have a zipper closure which ensures freshness, is easy to open, reach in or pour out and is a great value with almost 2lbs of product! This product stands-up, won’t spill and has a high profile so it is easy to find in the pantry. The new Airheads Soft-Filled Bites and Sourfuls Stand Up Bags are designed with sharing in mind. They each have a zipper closure so they are resealable for freshness, are easy to dispense and are pantry friendly.

 

Expanding a brand portfolio with stand-up bags is incremental. They are also brining in NEW households. Those that were already buying, are buying more. 3.5% of stand-up bag dollar sales were from households new to the category and 64% were from households who expanded their spend to buy more stand up bags. That is 67.5% in total incrementality.  In addition, all of Perfetti Van Melle’s leading peg bags will be available in stand-up bags in May. All four of their peg sku’s are top half ranking in the total US. These include Airheads Bites, Airheads Soft-Filled Bites, Airheads Xtremes Bites and Airheads Xtremes Sourfuls.

 

Another new addition to the line is Airheads Bites White Mystery. This new product inspires fun and intrigue in the aisle with five fun mystery flavors inside! The Mystery Flavor Category growth is 27% and Airheads White Mystery Bars are up 8%.

 

Make sure you’re stocked up on these new products now! Check with your wholesaler for availability.

Perfetti Van Melle Continues to Grow in Convenience

The manufacturer of top brands like Mentos & Airheads continues to rock sales!

 

February 2018

 

Perfetti Van Melle is one of those candy companies that continues to innovate and grow year after year. The manufacturer of top brands like Mentos, Airheads, Mentos Gum and more continues to out-perform their peer group over 9 times in total, as well as in each sub-category. The company was up 10.5% in dollar performance in total convenience candy in the last 52-week period ending December 31, 2017.

 

While the gum category continues to decline, Mentos Gum continues to grow! In the last 52 weeks, Mentos Gum was up 30.8% while the rest of the category was down 3%. Non-chocolate is another category that continues to grow. Perfetti Van Melle's non-chocolate products was up 10.3% while the rest of the category was up only 5%.

 

The candy company's continued growth is attributed to their ability to innovate and desire to always improve their products processes and products to meet their customers satisfaction. Their focus on constant improvement and focus on the future is what makes them so successful, and what will continue to make them successful in years to come. C-store retailers need to make sure they are carrying Perfetti Van Melle products.  Your customers are looking for them, so make sure you're providing them!

 

Source: IRI National Convenience - 52 week period ending  December 31, 2017 DOLLAR PERFORMANCE* Composite of Gum, Mints and Non-Chocolate

New Velcro Wallet from Mentos Gum

 

December 2017

 

Perfetti Van Melle has recently expanded their Mentos Gum into a Velcro Wallet pack. This is a smart move as 6 of 10 gum shoppers ONLY shop wallets!

 

Mentos Pure Fresh Velcro Gum is the strongest performing tier 1 gum concept. This concept was originally tested with consumers in early 2016 as part of a packaging research initiative. The updated Mentos Pure Fresh Velcro Wallet Gum is the most appealing concept to Gum Users. The re-closable Velcro packaging as well as variety of mint and watermelon flavors drives affinity for this winning concept.

 

This concept is only seen as different to other gum products by approximately half of Gum Users. 80% of consumers really want this product. Priced at $1.09, Mentos Pure Fresh Velcro Gum is the best value compared to almost all other tested gum concepts. This winning concept also earns the highest flavor and taste perceptions. Make sure you’re adding the Velcro Wallet pack to your set in 2018.

Perfetti Van Melle Brands Continue to Out Perform

Mentos Gum & Mentos Mints Continue to Grow

 

September 2017

 

Perfetti Van Melle continues to have brands in the convenience store segment that out performs peer group brands by nearly 23 times in total as well as in each sub category. In addition, Perfetti Van Melle brands are also delivering strong performance in dollar changes in the last 52 weeks. Two of Perfetti’s top selling brands are Mentos Gum and Mentos Rolls. Both brands grew in total dollar performance in the last 52 weeks with Mentos Gum growing 21.9% and Mentos Rolls growing 5.3%!

 

Mentos Gum offers long tasting freshness in convenience on the go packaging in a variety of different flavor variations. They come in either packages of 15 count, 45 count or 50 count. Available flavors include: Pure Fresh Fresh Mint, Pure Fresh Spearmint, Pure Fresh Wintergreen, Pure White Sweet Mint, Pure Fresh Bubble Fresh, Red Fruit Lime, Tropical, Ice Flurry and Bubble Fresh Cotton Candy.

 

Mentos Chewy Mints are offered in several refreshing flavor varieties. Mentos Mins provides the benefit of a mint with an enjoyable chew! Available flavors include: Mentos Mint, Mentos Fruit, Mentos Spearmint, Mentos Strawberry, Mentos Cinnamon, Mentos Rainbow, Mentos Green Apple, Mentos Caramel & Chocolate, and Mentos Caramel & Mint Dark Chocolate.

 

Make sure you’re stocked up on these two brands that are sure to be top sellers in your store(s).

New Airheads Gum

Brand New Product from Perfetti Van Melle!

 

May 2017

 

Gum sales have been in decline for several years, however we saw an uptick in 2015 as innovative items were introduced. Mentos and Ice Breakers continue to grow the gum category. Mentos had a $28M growth and Ice Breaks had a $40M growth. Which other innovation generated over $100M (Starburst Gum, Extra and Sour Patch Gum).

 

Right now, there are so many opportunities in fruit flavored, slab gum. Non-mint flavored gum represents 34% of the gum category and fruit flavors account for only 12% of slab gum dollar sales. Perfetti Van Melle has introduced Airheads Gum! This gum launched on May 1st and is made with Xylitol and is sugar free. It comes in three different flavors: Watermelon, Blue Raspberry and Cherry. Each slab of gum has micro candies (Airheads flavored bits) and a candy strip layer which is also Airhead flavored.

 

These new items offer a mix of classic and innovative fruit flavors that will appeal to a wide range of consumers. Watermelon is the #1 fruit flavor in the gum category and is ranked #3 of Airheads bar flavor. A hero sku of line-up gives Airheads Gum a strong foundational flavor of gum. Blue Raspberry ranks #1 of Airheads bar flavor and has a unique flavor Airheads is known for. Lastly, Cherry ranks #2 of Airheads bar flavor and is a universally loved flavor, but underdeveloped in the gum category.

 

The launch of this new product is a winning idea. Airheads has been growing at a faster rate than the category due to innovation over the last 5 years. Airheads and Xtremes 2016 growth is over six-times category growth. In addition, Perfetti tested Airheads Gum against the top fruit skus in the category and outperforms and is the #1 and #3 fruit skus in the category.

This product should be merchandised next to other fruit gum slabs with Trident Layers/Fruit or Extra Fruit on either side of it. Make sure you’re stocking up on this delicious new product today!