In the fifth edition of this year’s Confectionery Conversation – a monthly column which shines a spotlight on the confectionery category, sponsored by Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail – Charlotte Turner finds out how suppliers and retailers are actively targeting Chinese consumers.

 

*The full-length column appeared in the May issue of TRBusiness.

 

The market in China is not an easy one to crack for many confectionery suppliers, and store selections are often dominated by legacy brands – according to some suppliers spoken to for this column – making it hard for smaller brands or new products to really penetrate the market.

 

However, even a low penetration of such a huge volume of travellers results in significant returns, as Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) has discovered.

 

“Chinese consumers are important to us,” says Femke van Veen – GTR Marketing Manager. “We are very happy that PVM brands are currently listed at Beijing airport and although we see that within Asia, and especially China, our sugar confectionery share is still low, we know there is potential to grow.”

 

‘MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN CHALLENGES’

Van Veen says she sees ‘more opportunities than challenges in the Asian market’. “Our main focus strategy for Asia is the same as our global strategy and that is to concentrate on the distribution of our bestselling items through duty free and travel retail channels.

 

“We have adapted some of our hero products to make them more relevant to Chinese or Asian consumers in general. For example, we have done this with our Chupa Chups Markers which we transformed into Hello Kitty Markers.”

 

Optimising its cash-till assortment is key to PVM’s travel retail strategy and one that has been paying off in Asia. “We know that some Mentos flavours like Juice Burst Yellow and Bubble Gum are performing better than others [in Asia]. We also know that 82% of shoppers expect confectionery at the cash till.

 

“A mix of sweets and candies, chocolate, water and refreshment is recommended, and Chewing Gum is the #1 cash till category with 58% of shoppers expecting it there. This will continue to be part of our focus in the coming years.”

 

SNACKING & SHARING LESS FREQUENT

Although Chinese consumers are not the most frequent purchasers of confectionery, says Stewart Dryburgh, General Manager, Nestlé International Travel Retail (NITR), they do see this category as a suitable for gifting.

 

“We have conducted recent research with m1nd-set that shows that for Chinese travellers, the purpose for purchases is often gifting and travel souvenirs, along with healthier/lighter options; while drivers for Chinese travellers are better quality, wider assortment and the possibility to try new products.”

According to research shared with TRBusiness directly by m1nd-set, 89% of Chinese DF shoppers say they are interested in healthy snacking options in confectionery, with 69% stipulating that they would expect to find these in the chocolate/confectionery area of a store, rather than in a separate section of the store dedicated to healthy products.

 

“Coupling this research with the *Confectionery and Fine Food Category Growth Drivers we are better able to turn motivations, drivers and need-states into actions,” adds Dryburgh.

 

THE ROLE OF PACKAGING

“We leverage these insights to fuel the development of product propositions and communications, that ultimately lead to purchase.”

 

Packaging naturally plays a pivotal role in the appeal of products to Chinese consumers, once again proven by m1nd-set’s latest research. Among 5,000 Chinese duty free confectionery shoppers, the majority expressed that they would be ‘very interested’ or ‘extremely interested’ in a product which was clearly packaged as a souvenir.

As mentioned earlier, while presentation of products is crucial to attracting these consumers, so too is the power of the brand.

 

Increasing brand exposure through digital engagement, is a necessity in China. For Nestlé a starting point in developing this is the significant global Category Growth Driver framework. “This provides key insights into deep consumer truths and need-states,” he says. “These are universally relevant and provide a strong base for all our efforts in travel retail.

 

“The needstates of ‘Deeper Connections’, ‘Better for You’ and ‘Elevated Experience’ are extremely relevant for the Chinese travellers too. Understanding the specificities of the Chinese traveller (what they are looking for and why) enhances our communication and in-store executions, such as the recent Chinese New Year activation for KitKat in Changi.”

 

Regarding activations, Dryburgh stresses the importance of understanding and respecting visual and cultural cues, which are ‘key’ to creating an engaging and consumer-focused promotion.

 

“Brands that celebrate Chinese New Year with the travellers as well as being a partner to the festivities seem to succeed within our channel,” says Dryburgh.

 

If you are interested in submitting material for the monthly Confectionery Conversation column contact [email protected].