American retail giant Walmart trialed toy-filled Yowie confections in 50 stores throughout Texas from September 2014 to March 2015.
The supermarket extended the trail to 1,500 stores in March 2015, but now over 4,300 Walmart stores will stock Yowie, mainly next to assisted and speedy checkouts.
Point-of-sale positioning
“The expanded point of sale to the speedy checkout lanes will give the product additional front-end exposure for impulse purchases,” Wayne Loxton, exective chairman of Yowie Group said in a statement.
Yowie products, in the shape of mythical Yowie creatures, are produced under license in Florida by the Whetstone Chocolate Factory. The brand uses a patented capsule to enclose a toy in the egg, overcoming legislation from 1938 has prevented Ferrero from selling Kinder Eggs in the US.
Earlier this year, Yowie Group won listings at 1,318 Safeway stores across the US, The brand is also stocked by c-store chain Valero and drug store Walgreens.
Yowie background & growth plans
From the mid 1990s to 2004, Cadbury produced Yowie chocolate products under license from Kidcorp Pty Ltd. it sold 65 million units in Australia in 1998, but discontinued the product in 2004 to concentrate on its core brands.
The Yowie Group acquired all rights to Yowie characters globally when Cadbury was acquired by Kraft Foods in 2012 and has adapted the product for a global rollout
The company plans to concentrate on growing in the US, before setting sights on Europe, the Middle East and Asia.