FRUIT flavoured confectionery lines are growing and Wrigley says its own fruit confectionery brands now account for £61m of the overall sugar confectionery annual spend of £868m. Wrigley brand Skittles is currently worth £38m and Starburst is worth £23m.
A spokesperson said: “The sugar category continues to enjoy substantial growth, increasingly driven by fruit confectionery.
“Wrigley has been a driver of this growth, having driven 22% of fruit confections category growth since 2010.”
The firm reckons the growth is down to a combination of marketing activity and new product development.
In product development, Wrigley added a bottle pack for Skittles Fruit in April this year and its Skittles Pox ad hit TV screens recently.
Starburst is also on TV with an ad the brand owner is calling Land of Intensity.
And both brands have been made available in price-marked packs.
Marketing manager Dan Newell said: “PMP cases and individual packs will carry a £1 price flash and the range will be supported by an outdoor poster campaign as well as in depot with POS material.
“Consumers are looking for value for money and choice. The £1 RRP provides consumers with the assurance that their purchase is good value.”
Alongside its new product launches, Wrigley is bringing back a taste from its history in Extra Ice Spearmint chewing gum.
Marketing director for GB and Ireland Julio Guijarro said: “Extra continues to perform really well, currently growing at 4.4%, more than three times as fast as the gum category as a whole.
“The spearmint flavour is one of the most important in the gum category and bringing back Extra Ice Spearmint will pave the way for further category growth.”
He said the Extra range has had a packaging redesign and is being supported by £15m marketing investment with 40 weeks on TV.
Extra Ice Spearmint comes with an RRP of 49p for a pack of 10.
