Halloween on 31 October, is Britain’s third biggest retail event, worth over £300 million and gets more popular every year. With 85% of shoppers buying Halloween items, themed displays are vital for retailers to drive sales.
Retailers can spark profits from soft drinks, sweets and much more this Halloween by displaying fun, affordable products catering for seasonal parties and shoppers stocking up for trick or treaters.
Trick or Treating remains the biggest ritual associated with Halloween, with 41% of consumers taking part.
Confectionery is an integral aspect of the fun and many consumers buy a mix of chocolate and sugar confectionery in funsize formats and sharing bags to have as many treats as possible for trick or treaters.
And with Bonfire Night just round the corner, it gets even better for retailers, keeping the excitement going through to November 5th. Bonfire Night comes around so quickly after Halloween that it pays for stores to stock a range of Bonfire Night products as an extension of their Halloween range and get ahead of demand early on.
The Halloween season is worth £1.2bn, with confectionery taking around 29 per cent. Last year, Mondel?z had the UK’s number one Halloween self-treat and are launching more exciting new products this time. Perfect for self-treating, Cadbury Goo Heads and smaller-sized Cadbury Goo Head Minis for sharing feature creepy skeletons, pumpkins, Frankenstein, Dracula and were-wolf variants. Last year’s introduction, Maynards Bassetts Creepy Chews returns for another season.
Small packs and multipack confectionery are both vital for retailers stocking up for trick or treaters, says Andrew Ovens, Marketing Manager at Big Bear Confectionery:
“Poppets are especially popular with under 15s and our Poppets 40g snack boxes are the perfect size. Fox’s Glaciers hard-boiled sweets are also ideal for trick or treat bowls.”
Halloween and Bonfire Night spark an opportunity for retailers to ignite extra sales in the £23m matches market, says Gavin Anderson, General Sales Manager at Republic Technologies:
“Demand for matches rises significantly around this time of year as families and communities celebrate major events such as Halloween, bonfire night and Diwali. Matches are used extensively on these occasions, presenting a real opportunity for sales uplift.”
In addition to the thousands of bonfires up and down the country, Britain is embracing Halloween like never before:
“With approximately £25 million spent on Halloween pumpkins last year, and the vast majority being hollowed out with candles placed inside, matches come into their own as a household accessory at this time of year.”
“Halloween’s appeal spans the age spectrum with half the nation taking part, and spend increasing year-on-year on a hugely popular celebration that has become one of the UK’s most significant seasonal sales generators.”
Republic Technologies recently relaunched its Swan, Bryant & May, Cooks and Ship products: “The relaunch of our matches range has enabled retailers to boost profits by aligning specific match brands to usage occasions, and they don’t come much bigger than Halloween and Bonfire Night.”
In-store bakery specialist Aryzta Food Solutions is tapping the trend for indulgent seasonal treats with the devilishly decadent new Otis Halloween Muffin. The latest addition to the Otis range features a rich, chocolate muffin with a frightfully smooth vanilla cream, topped with a fun pumpkin-shaped decoration in a colourful Halloweenthemed case, that’s sure to appeal to bakery fans hell bent on a sugary fix.
Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at Barr Soft Drinks, says soft drinks and sweets are the biggest profit drivers at Halloween, with shoppers stocking up on take-home packs of soft drinks for parties and smaller packs to hand out to trick-or-treaters. One in three shoppers buy soft drinks at Halloween (Platypus Research.) AG BARR’S Halloween bestsellers include IRNBRU, the UK’s No.1 Flavoured Carbonate brand (IRI), available in Regular and XTRA variants, and the Barr Family Range, the UK’s biggest range of flavours.
Fanta is to Halloween like Coca-Cola is to Christmas, and the brand is a key driver of soft drinks growth during the Halloween period, says Amy Burgess, Trade Communications Manager at COCA-COLA EUROPEAN PARTNERS (CCEP.)
While overall soft drinks grew 3.7% last Halloween, Fanta saw a 26% boost, accelerated by more consumers picking up Fanta Zero than ever. Fanta is back this year with another Halloween activation, supported by a multi-million pound marketing campaign. CCEP are also unveiling the spooktacular winning flavours of April’s Fanta Flavour Election. Fanta Blood Orange Zero and Fanta Pink Grapefruit Zero join the portfolio, both Soft Drinks Tax-exempt and naturally flavoured, containing no sugar or calories.
Halloween is a great excuse for adults to explore their inner ‘big kid’ and share childhood memories with their own children. TANGERINE CONFECTIONERY has identified this phenomenon of ‘kidulting’ as a key trend, the notion of adults treating themselves and escaping the stress of everyday life with sweets they remember from their childhood.
Tangerine’s Halloween Bag format is perfect for sharing with family and friends at spooky-themed gatherings, and provides a range of options for everyone. The Halloween Bag format’s popularity has accelerated year on year, with 8.2% sales growth in 2017. The Barratt 180g Halloween Bag features a mix of retro heroes, including Dip Dab lollies, Fruit Salad lollies, mini Refresher rolls, and mini Wham chew bars. Tangerine’s 450g Barratt Halloween Bucket contains a mix of consumer favourites, including Refresher Rolls, Dip Dabs, Mini Wham Bars, Mini Fruit Salad Bars, and individual 30g bags of Dolly Mix, Cola Bottles, Shrimps and Bananas. The bucket format is ideal for shoppers stocking up for trick-or-treaters.
This Halloween HARIBO is showcasing its Starmix Minis and Tangfastics Minis alongside MAOAM individually wrapped treats, a selection which helped deliver 5% year on year growth for the UK’s leading gums and jellies brand last Halloween.
Claire James, Trade Marketing Manager for HARIBO comments: “Halloween is an occasion where shoppers look for trusted brands, those that they know will deliver great taste and will be enjoyed by the majority – they certainly don’t want to look cheap when it comes to treating or hosting a spooky celebration!”
Supporting the Halloween occasion is Tangfastics Minis and Starmix Minis. Featuring 11 mini bags, Minis are a popular choice at Halloween. Also offering value and volume is MAOAM’s selection of individually wrapped top selling chews, including Stripes, Joystixx and MaoMix.
Brioche and Viennoiserie supplier Brioche Pasquier has partnered up with Thorpe Park Resort in a Halloween promotion inviting customers to make their hearts beat faster with a special 2- 4-1 entry ticket offefeatured on packs of their popular Pains au Lait and Pains au Lait with Chocolate Chips. The offer is available in stores until November 1st on packs of six and eight Brioche Pasquier Pains au Lait and Pain au Lait with Chocolate Chips and valid until October 2019.
According to Mark Roberts, Trade Marketing Manager at PERFETTI VAN MELLE, last year 77% of shoppers said they bought sugar confectionery rather than chocolate in the lead up to Halloween and seasonal sales increased 9.2% in 2017 (IRI.) Last year Halloween was worth £117 million in incremental grocery spend, 29% up on 2016. Confectionery accounted for £94 million of sales.
Instore theatre holds the key to capturing shoppers’ attention and PVM’s Halloween packaging complements a fun, seasonal display with leading brands Fruittella and Chupa Chups. Last year, Fruittella’s Halloween bags grew 79%. The Juicy Chews retail at £1 and come individually wrapped, suitable for themed parties and Trick or Treating. The brand also offers the £1 Mini Mix, perfect for Halloween themed parties and trick or treaters because they come individually wrapped.
In 2017 confectionery drove Halloween growth by 7%, says Dan Newell, Fruity Confectionery Portfolio Director at MARS WRIGLEY CONFECTIONERY, with over a third of UK consumers buying sweets and/or chocolate for the occasion (Nielsen Scantrack.) Growth was largely driven by shift in demand towards Sharing Bags and twistwrap confectionery as consumers look for Trick or Treat and Big Night In confectionery options. In the seasonal period, funsize and sharing grew 6.5% and 5.7% respectively, highlighting the demand for a range of both fruit confectionery and chocolate options across the Halloween season.
Mars’ SKITTLES® brand is taking consumers back to the dark side for the fourth year running. Containing five frightening flavours (Forbidden Fruit, Midnight Lime, Blood Orange, Pomegranate and Dark Berry), SKITTLES Darkside is available in funsize format, alongside SKITTLES Fruits, both perfect for Trick or Treating.
PREMIER FOODS focus heavily on Halloween with the Mr Kipling and Cadbury Cake brands, whose appeal continues through to Bonfire Night, for which they are offering some specifically Bonfire Night-related products. Last year Mr Kipling and Cadbury Cake brands’ success at Halloween continued, with Cadbury Cakes experiencing 31% growth (IRI.) Mr Kipling Fiendish Fancies and Terrifying Toffee Whirls are making a return this year, alongside the new Cadbury Pumpkin Patch Gateau.
Available from October the Gateau provides the perfect centrepiece for Halloween parties and gatherings, catering for eight portions of chocolate cake and topped with an orange pumpkin plaque.
Gingerbread specialists, Image on Food Ltd, have launched a new line of spooky treats for Halloween, joining their established collection of gingerbread novelties. The gingerbread novelties are hand iced by and feature Halloweens favourite designs, perfect for trick or treaters and Halloween parties. Image on food offer Halloween Pumpkin styled gingerbread biscuits:
Day of the Dead Skull shaped gingerbread biscuits: Witch and Wizard shaped gingerbread biscuits with magical purple and yellow hats and cheeky grins, individually wrapped in clear cellophane: Spider and Skeleton shaped gingerbread biscuits Gemma Williams, Senior Product Manager at Image on Food Ltd, says, ‘Our sales for decorated biscuits grow year on year, with Halloween the third most popular season. Our top selling product is the Pumpkin, however with cult trends driven from recent cinema releases, our Day of the Dead Skulls are rising in popularity as consumers look for something a little different.
ANIMAL CRACKERS
Finally, the usual advice is to keep pets inside, away from fireworks, but there’s no reason to let them be spooked by Halloween! TastyBone, the UK’s leading manufacturer of nylon chews and edible treats for dogs, is helping Britain’s pooches get in on the Halloween fun this autumn with two spooky, limitededition, Halloween-themed bones. With Toffee Apple or Pumpkin flavours to choose from, the new products are available as individual bones or as a mixed counter display unit with a bespoke Halloween-themed header.
Camille Ashforth, TastyBone product manager, comments: “At TastyBone we understand that pets are an important part of the family, therefore owners want to ensure that they are included in all traditions and celebrations in some way – this presents retailers with a great opportunity to capitalise on this key calendar date.
“With specially designed packaging, they also make for an eye-catching display in any retail environment and the price shouldn’t scare pet owners off either, with an RRP of £5.25.”
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