Ferrero recently introduced a new Kinder Friends 250g pouch for travel retail at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in October, which it launched in response to the “immediate success” of its Kinder Schoko-Bons bag.
In addition, Ferrero launched a 30g pocket-size Nutella jar last month, and an almost travel exclusive Liberty by Tic Tac range which was introduced to the market last September.
Serge van Wijck, marketing manager for the Ferrero travel market said: “As more and more airlines cut their onboard meal offer and the airports demand earlier check-in times, we are finding that there is greater demand for snacks and chocolate bars in the terminals.”
Travel confectionery surge
Top 10 travel product categories for last year’s sales showed that confectionery fared well, compared to other categories slipping 5.6 per cent, according to research compiled by Generation Research the industry's independent analyst for travel retail.
Confectionery was the strongest, behind sunglasses sales (+0.7 per cent) and women's cosmetics (+0.1 per cent) – which were the only two categories in the top 30 to show any growth.
According to the analyst, in terms of value sales, in 2009 Kraft Foods held its position as the world’s No 1 duty free and travel retail confectionery company.
Mars was the world's leading duty free and travel retail confectionery company in terms of volume sales.
The companies performing better than the average evolution (-5.6 per cent) of the global market in terms of value in 2009 sales were: Ferrero, Perfetti van Melle, Hershey, Mars, Max, Cadbury and Godiva.
Slower 2010 growth
This year confectionery continued to perform strongly in duty free and travel retail (DF&TR), with the latest Generation Research data for August showing the category up +12.4 per cent year-over-year, according to Best and Most, an intelligence specialist in DF&TR.
“Year-to-date confectionery is now up +13.3 per cent on 2009, placing it slightly behind the global trend in DF&TR sales of +16.2 per cent but ahead of Tobacco where sales are up by +9.4per cent for YTD,” said Best and Most.
The intelligence specialist claims that the growth curve for this year shows that the confectionery category growth is slightly down on the +17.9 per cent growth seen in the first quarter 2010 but trending back above the +9.4 per cent growth of the second quarter.
“For August YTD 2010 compared to the same period in 2008, confectionery is yet to reach the sales level of two years ago and remains down -3.9 per cent, slightly worse than the global average for DF&TR of -1.6 per cent,” Best and Most added.
Jack Tabbers, general manager for Mars ITR, told Best and Most that the global statistics are reflected in the trends also seen in Mars ITR’s performance.
Tabbers said the reason why confectionery globally appears to be slightly behind some of the other categories is down to a knock on effect from 2009: “Last year, other categories struggled enormously while confectionery powered ahead and remained very stable, despite the recession.”
“Now, in 2010 the industry has recovered well and other categories have simply caught up again. In short, some other categories rollercoaster up or down dramatically, while confectionery remains very consistent. This in the context that the growth of confectionery has been continuous and steady for the last decade,” he added.
Separate travel unit
In September last year Ferrero’s travel retail division became a separate trading entity within the company and was renamed Ferrero Travel Market Division along and given its own management team.
The structural re-organisation follows two years of “rapid sales growth” of the Ferrero brands in the international travel retail markets.