CHILDREN are impulsive when they’re buying confectionery, and they don’t necessarily plan their sweet shopping far in advance. And when they arrive at stores, kids want to see a good range which includes extreme flavours – as many children want to try new things – as well as traditional sweets, all in a wide mix of single-sized products and bags.
That’s the view of kids’ confectionery firm Bazooka Candy Brands, which also argues that to realise sales and profit and encourage young consumers to return to a store a retailer should make sure the kids’ confectionery shelves are well-stocked and easily seen.
Bazooka sees kids sugar confectionery as the most valuable segment of the wider sugar confectionery category, growing 5.9% in value year on year and up 2.8% in volume.
Pre-teens look for products that are fun and interactive, and teens want taste and value for money, it says.
A good mix of traditional and experimental flavours is important. Traditional flavours like strawberry, apple and cola are still the most popular choices but in recent times, new flavours like blue raspberry, watermelon, blueberry, tropical, bubblegum and tutti frutti, and flavour combinations like strawberry and banana, and raspberry and lemon, have also been popular.
There’s also a growing trend towards sour flavours, and the Bazooka range of sour flavoured products includes Juicy Drop Pop Blue Thunder, Mega Mouth Bleeding Eyeball Sour Cherry, and the recently launched Moshi Monsters Sour Gummies.
Bazooka suggests Chocolate should account for 40% of kids’ confectionery space, gums and mints for 30% and sugar confectionery (including a combination of lollipops, gummies, chews, and liquid candies) for 30%.
Images – Bazooka Candy Brands added Moshi Monsters Sour Gummies to its range earlier this year. Price-marked packs of Big Baby Pop and Juicy Drop Pop have also recently been introduced.
