The new additions, which will be available to retailers via cash and carries and delivered wholesalers from February., includes two new drum countlines, a countertop display box containing individually-wrapped 10 pence (€0.14) jelly and foam sweets, and a new family size bag line.
Spearheading the new line-up is Jolly Jellies - a range of individually packed jelly and foam sweets featuring a variety of five different animal-themed shapes including a crocodile, mouse, fish worm and a dog's bone. They are supplied in a cube-shaped display box containing 50 sweets retailing at 10 pence each.
In answer to the growing popularity of tangy, sour sweets - Haribo says it has added Giant Sour Strawberries, a sour version of the popular Giant Strawberry countline, to its countline range. Giant Sour Strawberries are packaged in resealable drums containing 150 pieces and have a retail price of 4 pence each.
Snakes also feature with the company launching another new countline - Black Adders - which is being added in February. The product is 15cm long, black and yellow, snake-shaped fruit flavour gum and foam sweets - are supplied in drums containing 60 pieces each having a retail price of 10 pence. Snakesss is the name of the new family-size 175g bag line, which contains a variety of brightly coloured jelly snakes with a retail price of 99 pence.
Haribo says that the launches form part of a £4.5 million marketing programme this year, which also includes a seven-month TV campaign which kicked off in January and runs through to August.
Mager adds: "It is important to refresh the appeal of countlines and bagged lines on a regular basis because young consumers are always on the lookout for something different and to try out new sweets. The start of the year is always a good time for retailers to review their confectionery range as the fixture will need re-merchandising after Christmas seasonal lines have sold through. This provides an ideal opportunity to take a good look at what's happening in the market, cut out the clutter, focus on brands and sectors that performed well last year, and bring in some new lines to keep the range fresh."
"With Giant Sour Strawberries, we are giving retailers the opportunity to cash in on the huge growth in sour sweets, with a countline option, while Jolly Jellies provides an innovative and hygienic packaging format for countline sweets with each 10p sweet being individually wrapped."