Gabriele Hofinger, head of marketing & licensing at PEZ International, told ConfectioneryNews at the ISM trade fair in Cologne: "This year's highlight is a Flamingo PEZ dispenser, which is not through our usual licensing business, but a trendy thing you are finding everywhere in home living and fashion.
"We've combined it with an extra flavor, which is not in our regular assortment."
Limited edition for home & living stores
PEZ Flamingo is a limited edition product containing PEZ Cocos, coconut-flavored candies. It comes in a gift set with one dispenser and eight candy refills.
"We've had more interest than we can serve because it's limited edition," said Hofinger.
"We'll need to decide where we put it, but maybe in outlets that are not in traditional food like home & living stores. It's an experiment,” she said.
Jurassic World deal
At ISM, PEZ announced host licensing deals with popular kids TV shows, toys and movies.
Hofinger said PEZ's 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' deal with Universal Studios was the pick of the bunch.
PEZ displayed three prototype dispensers with dinosaur heads at the ISM trade fair: Blue Raptor, T-Rex and Dilophosaurus.
The products will hit store shelves six weeks before the movie's release on June 6, 2018.
"You never know what will sell best, but we feel this is the hottest property," said Hofinger, adding that Minions dispensers were PEZ’s biggest seller last year.
In 2018, the Austrian candy firm will introduce PEZ dispensers through licensing deals with other popular kids shows and toys, including Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Barbie and others.