Halloween has quickly established itself as one of the biggest retail events of the year and shows no signs of slowing down.
It gives retailers a sales boost, especially when it comes to sugar confectionery. Halloween has cemented itself as one of the biggest shopping events for retailers and wholesalers, alongside Christmas and Easter.
The cost-of-living crisis has led to a greater desire for affordable treats than ever before which brings sugar confectionery to the forefront as one of the most popular categories. Another key factor making sugar confectionery a popular category is the custom around Halloween ‘trick or treat’ which has always been associated with sweets.
“Halloween is expected to be very profitable for retailers as it’s a highly anticipated event that allows people to enjoy affordable treats,” comments Clare Newton, Trade Marketing Manager at Swizzels. “Sugar confectionery remains one of the most popular categories for people to treat themselves, especially after not being able to engage in the activities they normally would do, buying a sugary treat seems like a reasonable and affordable solution to cheer themselves up.”
Well-established and much-loved brands that offer delicious treats at affordable prices continue to be a preferred choice for shoppers.
“It’s important for retailers to utilise the growth of this trend, as value-for-money confectionery continues to be a hugely popular choice for shoppers and more retailers than ever have been stocking up on categories performing particularly well during Halloween, such as sugar confectionery,” adds Newton.
“Retailers can drive profits from profitable categories such as sugar confectionery by displaying a range of fun, sought-after and affordable products and new flavours that appeal to retailers and shoppers stocking up for seasonal parties.”
Swizzels’ hanging bags range has been very popular amongst shoppers during Halloween, as they are perfect for Trick or Treaters.
Squashies is another popular choice amongst consumers. Squashies is the No.1 sugar confectionery brand in Symbols & Indies (Circana), and as a result of retailers having such great success with sales of Squashies, along with the fantastic feedback from consumers, Swizzels will be opening an additional factory later in the year to produce even more Squashies.
This year, Swizzels offers a Mummy Mix, Monster Treats and Trick or Treat Lolly Mix packed full some of the nation’s favourite sweets: Drumstick Lollies, Refreshers Chews, Mini Love Hearts Rolls, Fizzers, Fruity Pops, Double Lollies and Parma Violets.
Phil Hulme – Commercial Director – Kervan Gida UK Ltd, comments: “Halloween is the UK’s third biggest retail event in the confectionery calendar, and retailers can maximise sales uplift by ensuring they stock affordable products suitable for both parties and trick-or-treat occasions. Creating themed displays and in-store theatre help to drive additional footfall to confectionery areas.”
Confectionery is a key category when it comes to planning for Halloween. Retailers can make Halloween a focus in the aisles by decorating them to draw shopper attention, and they can make sure shoppers know where they can buy their Halloween treats.
Health and sustainability continue to be of concern to consumers year round. Bebeto offers a range of small bags for trick or treating, and the larger 150g bags that are perfect for parties: they use less plastic/ kg and are made of a form of OPP that is widely recyclable. Bebeto’s range is packed in 150g non-plastic bags which are designed for sharing – each portion is 20g. The brand also has boxes containing 45 individual small 15g bags, which are idea for trick or treating and, at 15g, are perfect for portion control.
“It’s important that retailers make the most of the occasion by ensuring consumers can easily identify the Halloween aisle, as it is a destination for many,“ adds Hulme. “The Bebeto range typically has an RRP of £1.00. A sharing bag of sweets such as Bebeto gummies is the ideal way to cut back during the cost-of-living crisis: not only are they affordable sweet treats, they can also be used to decorate cupcakes, for example, which can be a fun activity for the kids.“
Bebeto has Halloween-specific SKUs such as150g Halloween-themed vegan sharing bags, which include Bebeto Monster Spaghetti, Bebeto Fizzy Fangs, and Bebeto Gummy Brains.
Last year Bebeto introduced a brand new 150g sharing bag, Bebeto Spooky Mix, which contains a selection of fun, Halloween-shaped fruity gummies, in blackcurrant, apple, orange, and strawberry flavours. Its Halloween vegan sharing bags are all free from artificial colours and flavours, are vegan approved by the vegetarian society, and are halal certified, with an MRP of £1.
Bebeto Gummy Brains 150g, Bebeto Fizzy Fangs 150g, and Spooky Mix 150g are available, alongside 400g Fizzy and Gummy Party Tubs and Pick & Mix Party Pack 750g as part of the Halloween offer. Bebeto Trick or Treat Party Box was new for 2022. Each party box is 675g and contains 45 x 15g miniature bags of Spooky Mix. Packed in a handy gravity-fed, full-colour SRP, this packing format is perfect for consumers who want a hygiene-friendly option to hand out to trick or treaters who come knocking at their doors.
Florence Kayll, Senior Brand Manager, Easter and Halloween, Mars Wrigley UK, comments: “Whilst Halloween is a popular seasonal occasion for many consumers, social and economic turbulence impacted the success of the occasion in 2022. The intensifying cost-of-living crisis, paired with the introduction of HFSS legislation, caused some consumers to tighten their purse strings and move away from celebrating Halloween however we still see a huge increase in confectionery sales during the period.”
Following the introduction of HFSS legislation in particular, shoppers bought fewer confectionery items due to the lack of access to promotional shopper touchpoints. Over time, however, shoppers have adjusted to new store layouts and relearned their shopping habits and know to head to the chocolate and confectionery aisles to purchase their seasonal confectionery. This has led to a shift in store volume sales, with aisles now experiencing an increase in sales and becoming a vital fixture in the store.
The cost-of-living crisis has impacted consumer shopping habits across the board, and Halloween has not been immune to this trend. Households with less disposable income are opting for smaller packs at a lower price point, whilst those with more disposable income are opting for bigger and arguably better value packs.
“As shoppers continue to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis we expect the Discounter channels to continue to grow their share by delivering value for money for shoppers,” adds Kayll.
“Retailers can make the most of this shift in Halloween purchasing habits, whilst at the same time accommodating consumer needs, by curating an assortment of affordable Halloween confectionery that caters to different budgetary constraints. By providing an extensive array of inexpensive options and varying pack sizes to provide trade up, retailers can capture a broader customer base and stimulate sales.”
This Halloween, Mars Wrigley is bringing back a Halloween classic: SKITTLES® Darkside. The limited-edition treats come in an indigo bag and contain dark-coloured sweets in Dark Berry, Midnight Lime, Blood Orange, Wicked Pomegranate and Sweet Strawberry flavours. It is available in 324g Funsize packs (rsp: £4.00).
“With Halloween being a key season for sugar confectionery in the UK, limited edition launches offer a huge sales opportunity for retailers, who should be thinking about stocking up on special packs and how to generate in-store excitement,” says Kayll.
Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International, comments: “Halloween is a valuable opportunity for retailers – in 2022, just under half (47%) of all consumers took part in Halloween in some form (Snackchat). This meant that the total chocolate category was worth a significant £20 million during the season, while biscuits were worth £15 million (Nielsen).
Last Halloween, Mondelez International saw growth driven by key lines including Cadbury Skeleton Fingers and OREO Spooky biscuits, bolstered by a strong Halloween range including Cadbury Family treatsize packs and Cadbury Freddo & Friends treatsize bags.
In 2022, Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons, Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo & Friends and Cadbury Family treatsize packs were three of the top ten SKUs – and Cadbury Family treatsize 216g was itself the biggest selling SKU of the whole Halloween season last year.
Seasonal events like Halloween are great for bringing family and friends together, and this is reflected in the fact that the top-selling products are typically sharing-style confectionery in tubs, treatsize multipacks and large pouches. Treatsize and pouches are absolutely key for retailers looking to have a successful season. These formats are perfect for all of the various ways that consumers mark the occasion, whether it be welcoming Trick or Treaters, entertaining friends and family, or enjoying a big night in.
To help people spend more quality time together, Mondelez International is extending its successful partnership with Merlin Entertainments to offer big ticket savings across seasonal packs, including OREO Spooky biscuits and Cadbury Skeleton Fingers. This will mean shoppers can visit world famous attractions like The London Eye, Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park Resort, and LEGOLAND Windsor Resort with their loved ones for less, all thanks to Cadbury and OREO Halloween treats.
“Having a bespoke Halloween display, while following HFSS regulations, can help to create excitement in-store and drive awareness of the season among shoppers. Treatsize and pouches are absolutely key for retailers looking to have a successful season. Both contain individually wrapped items inside which are ideal for distributing to trick or treaters or sharing round at social occasions,” adds Nash.
“As Halloween is a shorter selling period when compared with the likes of Christmas and Easter, it’s key to have a mix of both seasonal and regular SKUs.”
Mark Roberts, Marketing & Trade Marketing Director at Perfetti Van Melle, comments: “The total UK sugar confectionery market is worth £1.6bn (IRI) with Perfetti Van Melle remaining as one of the leading manufactures with their portfolio of household brands including Mentos, Fruittella, Chupa Chups, and Smint being worth over £100 million.”
Sugar Confectionery is a resilient category as it delivers lifts and treats for its consumers. As we continue into a challenging economic landscape, confectionery remains an affordable treat giving retailers a compelling sales generator.
“Our focus is on driving choice and by helping to signpost within the category, consumers can easily find a treat for any occasion. As we further develop our product portfolio, we continue to bring a wide range of products to consumers with new flavours, packaging, and textures,” adds Roberts.
As health concerns remain a priority for all, PVM’s sugar-free alternatives allow people to make their own choices. Perfetti Van Melle remains the leader within the Sugar Free category, with sales continuing to grow. Following HFSS regulations and now the cost-of-living crisis, there are bound to be multiple challenges for the category to face.
Confectionery is one of the top five categories purchased on impulse in convenience stores. Offering a full range that supports the government’s HFSS guidelines of under 150kcal per pack gives Perfetti the opportunity to be closer to these impulse purchases.
“Halloween is one of our biggest seasonal opportunities, where we would always encourage to ensure strong visibility within stores to maximise sales. HFSS has introduced limitations on where and how confectionery can be sold making visibility even more important this year,” says Roberts.
“We have found free standing POS displays help retailers sell product, but overall, the retailers that put the most into the season have the biggest impact at that time of year. The retailers that do it best are those who make the event their key focus, cultivate in-store theatre and earmark key space as a ‘one stop shop’ for everything the customer might need, including decorations and other cross-merchandised goods.”
Matt Collins, Trading Director at KP Snacks, comments: “As we move into Autumn, retailers should look to Halloween and Bonfire Night as the next big occasions to drive sales and footfall. From movie nights spent at home to get-togethers with family and friends, shoppers will seek out their favourite snacks in the lead up to Halloween and Bonfire Night making both events a key opportunity for retailers to maximise CSN sales.
“To capitalise on the popularity of Halloween and Bonfire Night, retailers should offer themed fixtures and special promotions, while prioritising Sharing CSN products. Worth over £1.6bn, Sharing is the largest segment in CSN, and growing at +13% MAT (Nielsen). At KP Snacks, our exciting Sharing range delivers something for everyone and all occasions, from popcorn to nuts to pretzels and, of course, crisps.”
Nuts offer a delicious treat for Autumn events. Leading the segment as the UK’s number one Nut brand, worth £95.8m and growing in value +18.1%, holds a 25.9% share of the segment (Nielsen).
Bringing big, bold flavours to evening sharing, the largest occasion within both nuts and sharing (Kantar), KP’s new Flavour Kravers range was launched last year. Available in three flavours: Flame Grilled Steak, Smokin’ Paprika, and Sour Cream & Chive, Flavour Kravers look to ignite interest from younger consumers to drive sales, with this demographic over-indexing in bold flavours (Kantar).
Butterkist is the nation’s favourite popcorn brand, an ideal choice for movie nights this Halloween. At nearly twice the size of its nearest branded competitor (Nielsen), Butterkist enjoys a 36.6% (Nielsen) market share. Launched this year, Butterkist Crunchy Hazelnut Chocolate flavour toffee popcorn is the perfect product to add fun and indulgence to Halloween events, bridging the gap between popcorn and chocolate confectionery to create a sweet and irresistible snack.
POM-BEAR is another family favourite and a great choice for in-home Halloween occasions. Worth £30.2m RSV, POM-BEAR is a gluten free snack which contains fewer than 100 calories per pack (Nielsen). Space Raiders is another fun snacking option for families celebrating Halloween. Worth £25.3m, the Space Raiders brand is growing in value +23.1% (Nielsen).
“The Halloween opportunity gets bigger and bigger each year,” says Nicola Randall, head of marketing at Brothers Drinks Company. “Brits are ever-keener to celebrate this seasonal favourite and, for many, the end of October marks one of the highlights of the calendar.
“When it comes to boosting Halloween sales, the absolute key single piece of advice we’d give is ‘Don’t forget about adults’. Whilst trick-or-treating is obviously central to Halloween activities, multiple retailers should be sure to also give prominence to drinks that appeal to adults, as they seek their fair share of the Halloween fun and want to enjoy the celebrations too. Nowadays, Halloween isn’t only about pumpkins, witches’ hats and random knocks at the door – it’s a bonus opportunity for retailers looking to secure incremental autumn sales. Brothers Toffee Apple Cider is a great-tasting, seasonally relevant flavour that allows adults to enjoy the festivities and generates additional sales opportunities for stockists. Brothers Toffee Apple flavour cider is now our biggest-selling variant overall and one that has become synonymous with Halloween over recent years.”
Brothers Cider had an extremely successful Halloween last time around and the brand sold 58% more volume in the month of October than in September last year (Kantar).
“Impactful, eye-catching displays have a significant effect on consumer sales so we work closely with stockists to ensure Halloween prominence for Brothers Toffee Apple through in-store media, shelf barkers, wobblers and aisle fins,” explains Randall. “Halloween offers a great opportunity for the multiples to drive seasonal uplifts across a wide range of categories. Giving prominent focus to relevant alcohol products such as Brothers Toffee Apple Cider and Wychwood’s Hobgoblin beers allows retailers to extend their Halloween offering in order to maximise sales to adults, as opposed to viewing the event as being something almost exclusively for children. Adults want a part of the action too, and themed alcohol is an easy way for grocery retailers to grow incremental autumn sales.”
Brothers Toffee Apple flavour benefits from ever-increasing levels of marketing support each October and seasonal volumes have grown significantly as a result. Halloween presents both the brand and retailers with the opportunity to boost sales.
“Halloween is largely a family-centred event so home-based celebrations are always key. But with the cost-of-living crisis, we expect even those who might have enjoyed a themed night in the pub to turn to home gatherings this year in order to minimise outlays. People will still want to enjoy Halloween, it’s just that they will do so with a keener eye on costs this time around and Brothers, as a brand with a centre of gravity very much in take home rather than in the on-trade, is set to benefit in terms of sales of its Toffee Apple variants,” says Randall.
“Themed alcoholic drinks have a role as a small adult treat around Halloween and our website shows consumers how Brothers Toffee Apple Cider can be used to create fun seasonal cocktails and recipes such as Toffee Apple Halloween Punch and Poisoned Toffee Apple Halloween Cocktail.”
Mark Frossell, Senior National Account Manager at St Pierre Groupe, comments on behalf of Baker Street: “Consumers are looking for quick and easy ways to create ‘fakeaway’ favourites. Baker Street’s range of Burger Buns and Hot Dog Rolls are ideal for consumers looking to recreate classic burgers and hot dogs, served with a variety of toppings. Baker Street’s recipes have been specifically developed for this purpose – with burger buns ‘built for burgers’ and hot dog rolls ‘ready to handle’ the load.”
The past few years have taught consumers how to make the most of at-home events and as the difficult economic situation continues, it’s all about ‘levelling up,’ taking hosting to new levels with products that deliver affordable indulgence, and retailers should offer shoppers an exciting range of take-home options for Halloween and Bonfire Night.
“Food waste also remains a big topic,” adds Frossell. “We have seen that people are looking to buy more longer-life food and drink products to help combat this. Baker Street is cleverly packed to stay fresher for longer and guarantees a minimum life of 35 days from delivery to depot, helping retailers ensure on-shelf availability and reducing the risk of wastage. This is a benefit for customers who are looking for food items with a generous shelf-life to help cater to impromptu entertaining during these occasions.”
The brand’s best-selling products are Baker Street Burger Buns and Hot Dog Rolls, which give both retailers extended-life options that allow for variety. Both the Original Burger Buns and Classic Hot Dog Rolls can be used for a host of tasty meals, including traditional ‘American style’ burgers and loaded hot dogs.
The Burger Buns and Hot Dog Rolls are performing well, as they meet consumer needs around creating these impromptu take away classics which can be easily handled, whilst helping to reduce food waste. They also cater for the whole family and multiple meal occasions – a very attractive proposition for those wanting to make their food go further. As ‘super-sized’ meals continue to grow in popularity, sales of Baker Street’s Jumbo Hot Dog Rolls and Mega Burger Buns are also on the rise.
As consumer spending at Halloween rises sharply year-on-year, and is estimated to have more than doubled in the last decade, demand for matches and lighters is set to hit an even higher seasonal peak this year. Republic Technologies (UK) Ltd is urging retailers to capitalise on this by increasing their focus on these high-margin products.
“Halloween leads the way for increased use of matches and lighters – not surprising, as spending on pumpkins alone is estimated to have reached almost £30 million last year. Against the backdrop of a tough economic climate, people really want to make the most of family focused celebrations such as these. As matches and lighters take up limited shelf space, retailers can really boost seasonal sales of these highly affordable, but high-margin products,” says Gavin Anderson, Sales and Marketing Director at Republic Technologies (UK) Ltd.
Bonfire Night and Diwali also spark increased demand, as these consumer celebrations large and small across the UK drive purchase in the £85 million (IRI) matches and lighters market.
The UK lighters and matches market is valued at £85 million (IRI).
In the convenience channel, annual sales of matches and lighters exceed £46 million (IRI).
Republic Technologies brands have a commanding 86% share of the UK’s Utility Lighters market (IRI). With unrivalled knowledge of the lighters and matches market, the company’s wide-ranging portfolio of historic brands includes ZIG-ZAG, Cook’s, Swan, Bryant & May, Poppell, Cricket, lumière and By candlelight, offering a product for every occasion.
Displaying household favourite Bryant & May Extra Long, used for candle lighting, indoor fires and a vatiety of outdoor uses, is easier than ever thanks to the introduction of shelf-ready, eye-catching dispensers.
Cook’s Matches is in the sixth year of its partnership with celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, spanning across on pack and digital activity, boosting brand and product awareness.
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