Soft drinks and confectionery key to Halloween profits

The American obsession with Halloween has gradually taken hold on this side of the pond – and that’s great news for retailers looking for a seasonal boost in autumn, says SLR.

It’s hard to believe it now but retailers who have been in the industry for a long while will clearly recall a time when Halloween hardly registered with shoppers. Over in the States it has been a massive tradition for a long time and Americans take the festival seriously. That enthusiasm has gradually spread to the UK and Halloween now just seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year – which is great news for retailers who need all the seasonal sales opportunities they can get.

According to Mintel, Halloween has exploded in recent years in the UK with overall consumer spending on the occasion continually rising since 2009 – up an enormous 263% between 2009 and 2013 alone – and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. Halloween is now the third largest seasonal occasion in the retail calendar.

Multi-category opportunity

A huge benefit of the nature of Halloween is that it brings sales opportunities in a wide array of important categories, but particularly in soft drinks and confectionery.

Amy Burgess, Trade Communications Manager at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), comments: “Halloween is a much-loved American tradition that has grown popular on this side of the pond, and a calendar moment that is increasingly celebrated by adults. Often enjoyed by friends at home, it provides an ideal opportunity for retailers to increase soft drink sales as consumers look to provide refreshments for guests.

“As statistics show that as many as 21% of adults in the UK are now teetotal [ONS, Feb 2015], soft drinks are playing an important role for retailers in the run up to Halloween. Sharing bottles such as the 1.75 PET bottles and 4x330ml multipacks are a perfect match for social gatherings, so stocking shelves with a variety of soft drinks in these formats can help retailers maximise sales.

“It is important to stock a range of well-known products and variants for shoppers that are kept chilled where possible, to allow for instant consumption for people planning impromptu gatherings.”

Similarly, Bep Dhaliwal, Trade Communications Manager at Mars Chocolate UK, sees Halloween as a vital opportunity for local retailers: “Confectionery was the number one purchased category at Halloween last year with additional 1.3 million households buying in to confectionery at Halloween [Nielsen, Nov 2016].

“Seasonal occasions are a crucial time for retailers to maximise sales in-store, and Halloween is no different. From late September people will be thinking about how to celebrate Halloween, so retailers should showcase the sharing packs and fun size packs they have available from then. Combining this with an in-store Halloween display is a great way to boost sales, and add excitement around the season.”

Dhaliwal believes the opportunity for retailers at Halloween is clear, with confectionery the perfect option for consumers regardless of their plans, whether that is trick or treating, preparing for trick or treaters, or hosting a Halloween party.

“Retailers should be sure to stock up on confectionery well in advance of the day in order to maximise sales,” she advises.

Trick or treat

Irn-Bru manufacturer AG Barr urges retailers to ensure they don’t miss out on the Halloween opportunity by offering fun, affordable products to appeal to consumers stocking up for seasonal parties or trick or treaters.

Halloween is now worth over £300m according to Mintel and AG Barr Marketing Director Adrian Troy highlights the IGD Halloween survey in 2015 which shows that one in three shoppers buy soft drinks for the occasion.

“The Halloween occasion represents a significant opportunity for retailers to grow sales during what is now a key period in the UK retail calendar,” says Troy. “Soft drinks and confectionery are the biggest profit drivers [Platypus, 2012], with shoppers stocking up on take-home packs of soft drinks for parties and smaller packs to hand out to trick-or-treaters.”

Troy also highlights in-store theatre as vital to driving sales of seasonal products. He comments: “We would advise retailers to build exciting themed displays that will entice shoppers and drive footfall to the fixture.”

Themed packs

One trend which has been very helpful for retailers in recent years has been the growth of bespoke Halloween-themed packs and products from major manufacturers. The brightly coloured, eye-catching packs help drive impulse sales and create excitement and profits in-store.

CCEP recently announced its biggest ever Halloween campaign from Fanta, including exclusively-designed packaging, smaller 150ml can multipacks and an advertising and experiential marketing campaign, to help retailers make the most of the second biggest seasonal selling event for soft drinks in Great Britain [Nielsen, Nov 2016].

The new ghoulish graphics on packs of Fanta have been specially designed by renowned artist Noma Bar and will run from 16th September to 11th November, encouraging young adults and gatekeeper mums to stock up for the seasonal occasion.

The spooky packs will also include a code for consumers to unlock exclusive Fanta Halloween-themed Snapchat filters and lenses, which will change daily throughout the campaign to encourage repeat purchases.

As 60% of UK smartphone users are now Snapchatters, and with users aged under 25 visiting the popular app more than 20 times a day, the new on-pack promotion will engage shoppers by adding a fun dynamic to Fanta’s association with the Halloween occasion, helping to drive more transactions for retailers.

The packaging will appear on a range of plain and PMP formats, including 2L and 500ml PET bottles, 330ml and 6x330ml can multipacks, of Fanta Orange, Fanta Orange Zero, Fanta Fruit Twist and Fanta Fruit Twist Zero. The Halloween themed packs will also coincide with the arrival of the 500ml PET Fanta Twist bottle which made its debut in the 2L format earlier this summer.

The brand will also be introducing Halloween themed limited edition 12x150ml mini can multipacks of Fanta Orange Zero and Fanta Fruit Twist Zero. These formats are designed to appeal to consumers who are less frequent buyers of carbonated soft drinks but are looking to stock up on smaller formats for their Halloween festivities.

The Fanta campaign marks CCEP’s biggest ever investment in Halloween, and includes a multi-million-pound marketing campaign that will feature themed in-store visuals, point-of-sale material, digital out-of-home advertising and experiential and virtual reality ‘Fright Night’ activity to drive awareness of the brand’s Halloween activities.

Spooky SKUs

Another manufacturer taking Halloween seriously is Wrigley with its range of themed products. The company has recently extended its seasonal range to five spooky Halloween SKUs. These include Skittles Fruits and Sours Tubs which carry an RSP of £5 and contain 29 individual 26g packs of Skittles Fruits and Skittles Crazy Sours, perfect for trick or treaters.

To support the new tubs, Skittles will be taking consumers back to the dark side for the third year running. Containing five frightening flavours – Forbidden Fruit, Midnight Lime, Blood Orange, Pomegranate and Dark Berry – Skittles Darkside is again available in a pouch format (RSP £1), and new for this year, as fun size (11 x 18g, RSP £1.39).

The Starburst brand also features in the seasonal range too with its creepy ‘Trick or Treat’ limited edition sharing bags (RSP £1) giving consumers a tense surprise when they taste one of the sweet or sour edition flavours. The pouch formats and sharing bags are ideal for consumers looking to host their own Halloween parties.

The limited-edition range will be available for three months and will run alongside the Skittles Fruits Funsize which will be available to buy throughout the year.

Dan Newell, Wrigley Confections Marketing Manager, comments: “It’s so important that retailers get stocked up for Halloween. We are excited to have expanded our range this year and will be giving retailers everything they need to enhance in store theatre”.

That support includes Halloween-themed POS including dedicated cardboard units and clipstrips.

Sugar sales

According to Mark Roberts, Trade Marketing Manager at Perfetti Van Melle, Halloween is a key occasion where sugar confectionery can come into its own. He says: “Unlike Easter or Christmas, where sales can be dominated by chocolate, Halloween is the occasion where sugar confectionery can really shine. In addition to impulse purchases, during this time, the category also benefits from a surge in planned sales. Shoppers will be actively stocking up for trick or treaters, fancy dress parties as well as looking for gifts and stunning centre pieces.”

Roberts is also frank about how important it is that manufacturers listen to retailers when planning innovation around Halloween. “Innovation remains key for Halloween, but at the same time there’s a need for manufacturers to listen to and act upon retailer feedback,” he says. “Seasonal stock isn’t always 100% successful, and if it’s not sold quickly it can end up costing more than expected. The space given to seasonal branded lines in total market declined 7.6% in 2016, and in line with this we’ve seen 20% less sales from Halloween branded lines [Kantar, Nov 2016].”

In response Perfetti Van Melle has widened its offering to ensure they are catering to both retailers who love novelty products, and also those who will still see a surge in sugar confectionery sales, but who may have less space, or want their products to have a longer shelf-life.

Roberts explains: “We’ve given our core range a spooky makeover. The packs simply feature Halloween artwork, giving retailers the opportunity to create theatre in-store without a risk of mark down post event. We’re bringing the focus back to £1 lines, and our bags all include individually-wrapped sweets, ideal for trick or treaters.”

Healthier Halloween?

Perfetti Van Melle has also highlighted that, with 92% of consumers actively trying to reduce the amount of sugar they consume, retailers should expect to see some shoppers searching for confectionery that’s a little bit better for them. It’s worth ensuring that you prepare for this by introducing some reduced sugar, or completely sugar free lines in time for peak season.

With that in mind Perfetti Van Melle is offering retailers Fruittella 30% reduced sugar mini party mix, Chupa Chups Sugar Free lollipops (RSP 35p) and a Chupa Chups Sugar Free lollipop bag (RSP £1.49).

New this year is the Giant Chupa Chups Skull with Fizzy Brain, a premium skull-shaped lollipop with a unique fizzy brain taste and texture with an RSP of 35p, available in a centrepiece unit containing 45 lollipops.

Also worth checking out is the Chupa Chups Spooky Pizza, a new take on the popular candy pizza, themed with snakes and spiders in time for Halloween. The product comes in impactful shelf-ready packaging and free-standing display units are available for in-store theatre and engagement. With an RSP of £5, these are the perfect centrepiece for any Halloween party and will help drive sales.