Ferrero is the Fastest Growing Confections Company in C-Store
June 2019
Ferrero continues to show massive growth in convenience store. In the last 52 weeks, ending 4-21-2019, Ferrero sales were $124.4M, showing 64.8% growth! The company attributes its growth to speed to market, protecting the core, securing quality merch, winning the seasons, implementing JBP and attaining validator status.
The company will continue to drive growth in U.S. confections by partnering with customers, driving their base business and launching new innovation in 2020. One of the innovation items launching in 2020 is Kinder Bueno. This product will premiumize mainstream chocolate. Shoppers are looking for premium experiences and identify premium products as having high quality ingredients and have superior function or performance. Bueno will deliver on premium expectations and will launch on the front end with regular and sharing sizes.
Another innovation item is Tic-Tac X-Freeze. This product is a strong mint innovation that the category needs. Strong mints make up 28% of the category but sales are declining. Sales have declined 15.8% because of the absence of innovation. This is a huge opportunity as 60% of strong mint buyers purchase the segment exclusively. X-Freeze fits the needs of the strong mint consumer. Each mint is pill size and contains cooling crystals. 87% of consumers report the freshness is strong and 70% report the freshness to last long. X-Freeze will differentiate from existing Tic-Tacs on the shelf because of its unique pill size, different pack type and new pricing corridor.
However, it is important to not forget the Ferrero base items that truly drive sales and growth. Kinder Joy continues to see significant growth and is “never out”. It is the #1 item in velocity and 50% of dollars are incremental. In addition to Kinder Joy, Tic-Tac remains a strong focus. C-store owners should focus on the core flavors and start swapping out Wintergreen for Frosty Mint.
Keep a look out in 2020 for these new innovation items and ensure you’re carrying the top selling Ferrero items in your store! To find out what those items are, please contact RBG at 888-728-3724.
Kinder Joy is the Fastest Selling Chocolate in America!
February 2019
Kinder Joy is a product that continues to grow every year. The brand saw more than $63 million in sales in 22 weeks and is the #1 brand in velocity. Kinder Joy delivers incrementality beyond category benchmarks and 50% of the brands dollars are incremental. In fact, 9% are new to the category, 41% spend more, and 50% are switchers!
Mainstream chocolate continues to lose parents’ interest. The category continues to struggle because there is no offer that truly captures parents’ interest. Unit sales per buyer continue to decline across all households, but more steeply across households with kids. Closing the parents’ chocolate opportunity gap is worth $1 Billon. The opportunity of this cap for capturing parents’ can be satisfied with Kinder Joy! Households with kids are one third of the US population but spent 38% of the dollars in edible.
Kinder Joy is the appropriate brand to capture parents’ interest and reinvigorate the chocolate category. Parents need trust that the products they are giving their kids are a quality product in reasonable portions. They also want to please and treat their kids while also bonding with them. On the other hand, kids need enjoyment. They look for delicious taste and fun/excitement. Kinder Joy provides this unique bonding experience between parents and kids.
Mints are Growing in Convenience Stores
January 2019
Mints are growing total breath fresheners in c-stores. This growth is driven by the Tic Tac brand. Total mints grew 6.4%, which Tic Tac grew 6.8% in 2016. Mints are the most profitable checkout category. Mint gum and candy bring the most margin, but mints bring the truest profit. Tic Tac is most efficient mint brand, bringing more share of profit than its share of space. As a c-store retailer, offering the right might to meet shopper needs is extremely important. Mint is the most popular flavor category with 63% share and $528MM in sales. Fruit comes in second at 33% with $276MM in sales. Cinnamon comes in third with 4% and $37MM in sales. Fruit flavors are the fastest growing growth segment and appeals to Millennials and Hispanics.
Traditional mint flavors represent 80% of the category and appeal to your core baby boomer shopper.
It is also imperative that you carry the right flavors within each type from the right brands. Traditional mint flavors include wintergreen, spearmint and peppermint. Emerging flavors include citrus, berry, and fruit mixes. Other flavors emerging in the category are cinnamon and sour/beverages. You can also build on the success with mixers’ exciting and unique flavor pipeline. Tic Tac Mixers come in two different flavors: Pina Colada and Strawberry Banana. Pina Colada is currently outpacing Freshmint velocity by 25%. Coconut was the 2016 flavor of the year. Continue to look for Pina Colada on impulse displays. Strawberry Banana is the biggest fruit flavor in total gum and mints. This flavor is expected to perform in-line with Cherry Cola based on testing. These two flavors have the highest appeal to Hispanics.
Tic Tac Mixers turn as fast as the top 10 and bring new buyers to the category. Incremental growth is seen with fruit flavors, with approximately 70% of buyers new to the category. In addition, 2 flavors of Mixers bring variety to a shopper that wants options. You should renovate flavors every 18-24 months.
Make sure you’re carrying Tic Tac gum in your store. Check with your wholesaler for availability and to place an order.
