CHRISTMAS has come early for Cadbury as parent firm Mondelez International unveiled its festive lineup at The Sanderson Hotel in London late last month, with a host of NPD on display.
New products for 2017 include a new Cadbury Heroes Cracker – a twist on the traditional Christmas cracker, packed with Heroes chocolates; a 43g pack of Cadbury Snow Bites, which the confectionery firm reckons is ideally suited to impulse; Maynards Bassetts Jelly Snowmen, a sharing bag of snowman shaped jellies, and a range of revamped selection boxes, including a vintage-look pack aimed at older consumers, featuring individual bars in classic wrappers.
This year will also see the introduction of Cadbury biscuits to the Christmas portfolio, with edible tree decoration packs including Oreos for the first time, as well as a Heroes branded interactive advent calendar complete with daily Snapchat filters, shareable on social media.
Marketing support for the festive season will see Mondelez hit the road again in the run up to Christmas with its Cadbury Christmas truck, visiting towns and cities across the country inviting shoppers to provide a Christmas wish, with the firm planning to grant a selection of wishes over the festive period.
Further marketing activity for Cadbury this Christmas will include the return of the James Bond-esque Milk Tray Man.
This year’s Cadbury advent campaign represents a £10m investment in the brand.
Mondelez also unveiled its phasing strategy for the core Cadbury range, which kicks off in September.
The firm advises retailers to begin stocking Snow Bites from September alongside traditional boxed brands Milk Tray, Roses and Heroes, before picking up Halloween stock in October, followed by a ramping up of Christmas stock in store from the start of November.
