Confectionary Innovation On Display at NACS Show

Mars and Wrigley unveiled more than 20 new items at 2016 NACS Show in Atlanta.

October 27, 2016

ATLANTA – Mars Chocolate North America and Wrigley announced an extensive lineup of new products that will hit convenience store shelves in the coming months, including M&M’s Caramel Chocolate Candies and Orbit White chewing gum. These innovations will join newcomers Maltesers Candies, Snickers & Hazelnut Bar, three new flavors of gluten-free goodnessknows snack squares, two new flavors of Dove Fruit, Twix White Chocolate Cookie Bars, Skittles Trick Plays, Juicy Fruit America Pop, Doublemint Perfectly Sweet, and Extra and 5 gum Mega Packs. These new items made their debut at the NACS Show in Atlanta last week.

“We are laser-focused on involving our customers and shoppers in our decisions. We’re listening, sharing insights and evolving to meet their needs,” said Tim LeBel, president of Sales for Mars Chocolate North America. “For example, we know that more consumers are sharing now more than ever, which has grown the bite-sized candy subcategory. Based on consumer and customer feedback, we’re converting laydown bags to a redesigned stand-up pouch format for M&M’s Brand Candies, Snickers Bites and Twix Bites. This conversion aims to transform the candy aisle by aligning packaging sizes and names across Mars’ bite-sized portfolio. This will make it easier for retailers to promote and merchandise across brands, plus it will improve the shopping experience for consumers.”

Edward Taylor, vice president of U.S. sales and operations for Wrigley, added: "The driving force behind our innovation is consumer choice. We dial into what consumers seek from our brands and implement our category-leading shopper insights to help our retail partners merchandise products to satisfy their shoppers’ needs.”

In addition to new products, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate introduced several co-branded initiatives at the NACS Show, including “The Candy Bowl” program that builds on the success of last year’s inaugural joint Super Bowl promotion. The companies also shared details on their merchandising tools and insights, which are already being implemented with more than 18,000 retailers and provide customized recommendations on strategic product placements to maximize sales.

These collaborative initiatives reflect the recent announcement from parent company, Mars Inc., about the intent to combine the Chocolate and Wrigley segments to create Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The combination will help deliver greater value to customers, and enable the segment to address consumer trends and insights holistically in what is increasingly seen as one global confections category.

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