Adult Chocolate Singles, Chocolate Sharing Bags, Sharing Bars, are the Easter sub-categories that are currently seeing growth.
Sharing bags are great for when you are hosting or indulging in a ‘Big Night In’.
“Wholesalers should make the most of promoting different Easter confectionery sub-categories to encourage customers to impulse purchase, creating an opportunity to drive sales,” comments Kenton Burchell, Trading Director at Bestway Wholesale.
Easter confectionery with wine is a good gift combination. For example, Hotel Chocolat, a store selling creative and innovative chocolates recommends different types of alcohol with a recommendation of rosé as a good combination to pair with chocolates.
“Confectionery products will be affected with the HFSS regulations,” adds Burchell. “The new trend will be consumers looking for healthy alterative options.”
There is a trend towards premium gifting as consumers are trading up and looking for good quality and value in a product.
Own label products are becoming popular with consumers due to inflation.
Some of Bestway’s top chocolates include: Snickers Chocolate Bar; Snickers Chocolate Duo Bar; Mars Chocolate; Cadbury Wispa Chocolate Bag; Twix Xtra Chocolate Biscuit Twin Bars.
New product lines at Bestway include: Cadbury Dairy Milk Orange; Munchies Caramel and Biscuit Chocolate Sharing Bar; Thornton’s Fabulous Fudge Vanilla; and Thornton’s Special Toffee.
Single Formats, Gums and Sharing bags are performing well.
“Bestway’s category advice is for retailers to stock the ‘Must Stock Lines’ to meet customers’ demand,” says Burchell. “Following Bestway’s planograms on the product list helps retailers to show visibility of a range of products per shelf.”
Chocolate singles have the largest share of confectionery with a quarter of sales in Independent and Symbol stores, growing at +9% (Nielsen). The sharing products have an increase sale on chocolate multipacks of +12% and an increase of +11% on sugar bags (Nielsen).
The trend of consumers preferring to stay and relax at home continues with the ‘Big Night In’ theme rather than visiting hospitality venues.
The price marked packs give clear pricing showing customers the visibility of the price reassuring customers that they are getting value for money (IRI).
‘On The Go’ missions are still on the rise and becoming a trend with the new concept on ‘Food to Go’ missions that can be incorporated with promotional lunch deals.
For the must stock range, the following range are popular purchases for customers: Adult Chocolate Singles – Snickers Chocolate Duo Bar, Mars Caramel Nougat & Milk; Chocolate Snack Bar; Chocolate Multipacks – Cadbury Wispa, Cadbury Crunchie; and Chocolate Sharing Bags – M&M’s Crispy Milk Chocolate Bites.
Bestway works with suppliers to create campaigns and use POS banners and shelf strips to promote products.
The company has marketing brochures to promote its products for the Easter Confectionery.
“To maximise sales, wholesalers need to review their inventory and stock management,” suggests Burchell. “They should review data sales and identify slow products that are not profitable; identify profitable products for retailers and their customers based on basket spend; create category advice for retailers giving marketing insights and planograms to increase their profit margins.
“Wholesalers should identify market trends and collaborate with suppliers to get the best price and value for retailers and their customers; and create promising and attractive campaigns such as instore ‘theatre’ to give customers an in-store shopping experience.”
A Hancocks spokesperson comments: “At Hancocks we supply an unrivalled selection of pick and mix favourites. As part of our Easter range for 2023, we are bringing back lots of our firm customer favourites.”
Some of the company’s most popular lines include Kingsway Happy Flowers, Kingsway Fried Eggs, Pink and White Mini Heart Mallows, Kingsway Bunnies and Yellow and Pink Chick Mallows.
Hancocks also has Mallow Butterflies, Mallow Flowers, Kingsway Bunnies and Triple Hearts for retailers to add to their themed pick and mix selection for customers.
As part of its Easter range for 2023, Hancocks has bought back the popular BUBs Egg Skulls. These are super on theme for the season and the shape is a merging of BUBs well known skull sweet coming out from an Easter egg.
Retailers can encourage gifting this Easter by stocking plenty of seasonal gift options. Popular from Hancocks gifting range is the Bonds Spring Tipple range, including the exciting Pina Colada flavour.
Hancocks’ range of Bonds Pun Boxes are also expected to be popular among customers again in 2023, each packaged in fun eye-catching packaging and filled to the brim with tasty treats.
Available this year are You’re One In A Melon/You’re Eggstra Special, Froggin’ Awesome/Flockin Fab, Hearts and Kisses/I Love You More Than Pizza. These work best when merchandised as a fun alternative to the usual easter gifting options.
Fun novelty additions from Crazy Candy Factory are also making a return for 2023, including their Cupcake Dip N Lick and Dancing Duck – a tube filled with yummy sweets and topped with a dancing duck figure which is sure to gain attention from customers of all ages. These fun and interactive novelty items are also a great value item for younger customers.
For Easter 2023, Hancocks is excited to showcase lots of new additions to its gifting range.
Brand new is the Bonds Pick n Mix Set, filled with customer favourites including Teeth & Lips, Mini Jelly Babies, Watermelon Slices and Pink & Blue Bottles.
Also available from Bonds is the Happy Easter Shaker Cup, a cup filled with one of Hancocks’ top selling Easter pick and mix lines for the season.
“The best thing that any retailer can do ahead of the Easter period is plan, making sure you have all of your orders placed and are stocked up ahead of time will make all the difference,” the spokesperson comments.
“Ensuring that products are displayed and packaged well is a great way to maximise sales and appeal to customers visually. A lot of the time over Easter, customers can feel overwhelmed by the volume of festive themed products around. Through clear and attractive POS you can be sure that your products will turn the heads of customers and translate into sales for the product. Having open communication with retailers is also a very important way for wholesalers to amplify sales, as we rely on our retailers to place repeat orders.”
Karen Crawford, Marketing Director at Lily O’Brien’s, comments: “Outside of chocolate eggs, boxed chocolates are top performing products at key gifting times including Easter. The Total In-laid market has grown +6% year-on-year to £210.7m (Nielsen) as shoppers look for gifting solutions which offer variety, quality, and luxury without the premium price tag – especially in the current cost-of-living climate.
“We can also see this playing out across Casual Gifting, which is now worth £420m MAT (Nielsen). “ This huge sector of confectionery is particularly relevant at Easter when shoppers are in the confectionery aisle looking for alternatives to chocolate eggs and gifts for different moments across the season.”
Driving these growing sub-categories, Lily O’Brien’s Desserts Collection is the fourth largest SKU within the In-Laid market (in volume), with its Exquisite and Ultimate Collections also best-selling products. Each range stands for craft, innovation, and indulgence for extra special moments, with RRPs starting from £5.00.
“Wholesalers should focus on promoting different Easter confectionery sub-categories during different stages of the season,” adds Crawford. “We can see the surge in demand for premium In-laid chocolates and casual gifting solutions – especially as people are seeking out different alternatives to traditional eggs at this time of year. This opens up more gifting moments across the season as consumers expand their celebrations. Shoppers will choose products which offer comfort, joy, and luxury at an attractive price point. The in-laid market is particularly well positioned for this, given the broad appeal of quality boxed chocolates and the special, caring meaning behind them.
Perfect for different moments throughout the season, Lily O’Brien’s has recently unveiled a new indulgent range of chocolate truffles, available in two flavour varieties: Milk Chocolate Truffle and Salted Caramel Truffle.
Presented in a unique gift box, each recipe has been created with passion using Lily O’Brien’s signature chocolate and quality ingredients. Each thick milk chocolate shell melts away to reveal a silky-smooth centre that oozes with flavour.
The launch is set to add over £2m to the Casual Gifting Market in 2022 alone, expanding appeal among younger audiences.
“Beautiful packaging which stands out on-shelf is an important part of growing Easter sub-categories,” says Crawford. “We present our ranges in unique gift boxes which look special and make a statement, communicating luxury in an instant.”
Luxury chocolate is renowned as the perfect pairing for alcoholic and no & low beverages, particularly around key gifting occasions like Easter. Lily O’Brien’s Collection of indulgent chocolates from contemporary and classic dessert recipes lend themselves to different ‘treat’ moments throughout the day, including hot drinks (different blends of tea and coffee), as well as aperitifs or digestifs such as wine and cocktails around dinner.
This year, Lily O’Brien’s has collaborated with a top UK mixologist to create an exclusive cocktail menu to pair with individual chocolates from the Lily O’Brien’s Desserts Collection. “We know consumers love to elevate special moments, especially if they are spending more time at home,” says Crawford.
“As finances tighten, affordable luxury and comfort will dominate the confectionery category – especially when it comes to gifting. Shoppers will always choose indulgent products that make a statement and reflect well on the gift-giver, which is our focus at Lily O’Brien’s.
“We also expect to see the return of self-treating at home and making the most of key and mini occasions. There will always be an opportunity to gift, from Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day to birthdays, ‘thank you’, and ‘just because’ gestures.”
The brand’s best-selling Dessert, Ultimate and Exquisite Collections have been a Key driver for growth. Its Desserts Collection is the fourth largest SKU within the In-Laid market (in volume). The brand stands for luxury products without the premium price tag as a differentiating factor and offers consumers variety through classic and trending flavours and formats. Its Desserts Collection has the classic recipes such as Banoffee Pie, to more fruity flavours for sensory seekers such as Raspberry Infusion key Lime Pie – all inspired by the world’s best-loved desserts.
Lily O’Brien’s is the best performing brand in Total In-Laid, growing at +22% and it is outperforming the category, with the most share growth, up from 6.2% to +7.2% (Nielsen).
Now worth in excess of £15m, the brand’s growth has been driven by the strong sales of its Desserts Collection (+17%) which has contributed an additional £1.2m to the category and is now the fourth largest SKU within the In-Laid market (in volume), with its Exquisite and Ultimate Collections also best-selling products.
“More than ever before, affordable indulgence is key. As a luxury chocolatier, this remains our approach at Lily O’Brien’s – we stand for offering a gifting solution at every key price-point,” suggests Crawford.
“Focus must also remain on making the confectionery fixture as compelling as possible. In terms of merchandising, our new marketing campaign “For the ones you really know”, showcases our unique dessert chocolates and playfully highlight the “O’” in O’Brien’s. Premium packaging design and our signature O’ is a signpost at fixture for luxury and craft.
“Looking ahead to next year, moments of indulgence – either self-treating, premium gifting, or casual sharing – will remain high on the consumer agenda. In-laid boxed chocolates for special moments, and the ‘treat factor’ of Lily O’Brien’s collections distinctively sets us apart from the ‘grab and go’ impulse category.”
Lily O’Brien’s has launched a new marketing campaign, rolling out across key consumer touchpoints. Showcasing its unique dessert chocolates, the brand is highlighting Lily O’Brien’s as the perfect gift “For the ones you really know”.
The campaign creative highlights the many gifting opportunities to enjoy chocolate collections, bringing more occasions into the confectionery category to drive value and volume.
“Affordable price positioning will be key in maximising sales, which includes gifting combinations and promotional offers,” continues Crawford. “It’s also about offering a breadth of choice across all key price-points, different flavours, and formats. Our Truffles range is a prime example of this. By offering classic milk chocolate and trendy Salted Caramel, we’re expanding appeal among younger audiences through a fusion of premium taste and texture at an attractive price point.”
Lily O’Brien’s has a dedicated wholesale team that works closely with Wholesale, Independent retailers, and the Convenience channel, so that they stock the best-selling lines for the occasions that matter.
The brand also offers bespoke packs to service this channel that are focused on offering more convenience solutions for those impulse occasions, such as the Lily O’Brien’s Sticky Toffee, Zesty Orange Chocolate and Crispy Honeycomb Hearts pouches.
Following its momentous success in the 2022 season, Mondel?z International has announced that Cadbury Creme Egg’s ‘How Do You Not Eat Yours?’ campaign will return when the treats reappear on shelves in all their gooey glory.
Shoppers will be warned once again to keep an eye out for an extra special half-milk chocolate, half-white chocolate Cadbury Creme Egg. If they can resist eating it, the unique treat can win them up to £10,000. But retailers should heed the warning as well – if a winning egg is found in their store, they’ll win too! More than twenty Amazon vouchers are up for grabs for lucky retailers, including a top prize of a £1,000 voucher to help them celebrate the season egg-cellently.
The competition will put consumers and retailers across the nation to the ultimate Easter test, sparking the annual “How Do You Eat Yours” debate. With social, digital, and OOH activations, everyone will know that the goo is back. Retailers can drum up egg-citement for its return with eye-catching POS featuring this year’s twist on the iconic phrase: How Do You NOT Eat Yours.
Lyndsey Homer, Brand Manager for Cadbury Creme Egg, said: “We were absolutely blown away by the response to our ‘How Do You Not Eat Yours?’ campaign last year. Our fans rose to the challenge of resisting the temptation of these delicious half-and-half Creme Eggs to win their prizes. To those who couldn’t resist – don’t worry! We’re giving you a second chance around this coming Easter!”
When it comes to Cadbury Creme Eggs, the goo just simply cannot be stopped. They’ve been an icon of the season for over half a century, and they’re purchased four times more than the average Easter product (Nielsen). This year, the brand is releasing their first ever product innovation: Cadbury White Creme Egg. Shoppers have been speculating and anticipating this new flavour for years – and now, it’s finally here for everybody to enjoy. White chocolate is growing fast in the category so in combination with the number one Easter brand (Nielsen), this is set to be a truly incremental new product.
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