L-R: On stand with the Loacker team at TFWA (full caption below).

Loacker is placing greater emphasis on travel-friendly gifting formats in Asia Pacific travel retail, as the company looks to respond to changing shopper behaviour, rising cost pressures and intensifying competition for space in duty free stores.

Speaking to TRBusiness at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore, Juan Miguel Cabrera, Head of Travel Retail and Business Director Travel Retail and Duty Free at Loacker, said the brand is focusing on products that are practical for both retailers and travellers, particularly as confectionery faces growing pressure within airport retail environments.

“This year, we have focused on launching items that make sense in terms of weight, format and speed to market,” said Cabrera. “One of the biggest challenges in duty free today is space, particularly in confectionery. Shops are growing, but not necessarily in our sector, because retailers are under pressure to prioritise space for higher-value categories. At the same time, raw material costs are increasing in a way we have never seen before.”

At the show, Loacker presented its new Around the World Travel Bag, developed exclusively for global travel retail. The 245.8g format features a built-in handle and is designed to work as a convenient gifting and sharing option without the need for additional packaging.

The bag includes an assortment of Loacker miniature specialities, including Napolitaner, Vanilla and Cremkakao wafers, alongside Tortina Mini, Patisserie Coconut and Chocolaterie Dark Chocolate. Its design features global landmarks, while the format has been created to support portability, shelf visibility and ease of purchase.

“Our new product can also be customised for specific locations, which helps it stand out from the crowd,” said Cabrera. “It was created with sharing in mind, which is a key focus for us, but in a smaller and more manageable format.”

According to Cabrera, Asia Pacific remains Loacker’s largest travel retail region, but it also requires a different commercial approach from Europe due to distinct shopper behaviours and purchasing patterns. “For Loacker, Asia Pacific is our biggest travel retail region, but it is also a complex one because consumption behaviour is very different from Europe,” he said. “Our biggest customers in the region include Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Malaysian travellers. In markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, shoppers are extremely driven by confectionery and by multi-buy offers. They like to buy in volume.”

For 2026, Loacker is focusing on launching items that make sense in terms of weight, format and speed to market.

By contrast, Cabrera said European travel retail shoppers tend to be more influenced by promotions and exclusivity, making products such as the Around the World Travel Bag relevant in different ways across regions.

“In Asia, we have to be very creative in terms of promotions and pricing,” he added. “The way we promote products is completely different from Europe because, in Asia, weight really matters. If a customer wants to buy a larger quantity of products, the price needs to be right. In Europe, shoppers are unlikely to buy one kilo of chocolate, but in Asia they will, so we need to adapt our offer to that behaviour.”

Loacker’s long-standing presence in Asia Pacific has been supported by partnerships such as its collaboration with Chocolate Sales & Supplies in Malaysia, which has helped the brand build a strong position in the country’s duty free confectionery market over nearly three decades. The company said learnings from markets such as Malaysia have reinforced the importance of clear product differentiation, strong value perception and formats that are easy for travellers to carry and gift.

However, Cabrera also pointed to ongoing challenges for travel retail in the region, particularly linked to disruption affecting passenger flows through major Middle Eastern transit hubs. “The region is being affected by a second wave of the conflict, and travel through places such as Dubai and Doha has been strongly impacted,” he said. “I think the recovery will be difficult. Many European travellers will already have changed their holiday plans for the summer, and they are unlikely to change them back quickly, so it will take some time.”

He added that China could become particularly important for Asia Pacific travel retail in the current environment, as Chinese travellers do not necessarily need to transit through the Middle East to reach other destinations. “That could create an opportunity for Asia Pacific,” he said.

Looking ahead, Loacker is preparing to restyle some of its pouches and classic lines later this year, although Cabrera said the company is remaining cautious given the uncertain trading environment. “It is still a bit too early to say more, because we do not yet know what challenges are coming,” he said. “Everyone is waiting to see what happens, especially with the Middle East, so there is still uncertainty. Prices are increasing too, which means we need to be able to react quickly to changes.”

With the Around the World Travel Bag and further updates to its core range in the pipeline, Loacker is aiming to strengthen its travel retail offer by balancing gifting appeal, portability and value-led formats suited to the specific demands of Asia Pacific shoppers.

Main image caption: L-R: René Ott-Kunold, Global Business Unit Director; Juan Miguel Cabrera, Head of Travel Retail and Business Director Travel Retail and Duty Free; and Daniel Kreschbaumer, Deputy Business Director – Middle East, Central Asia & Indian Subcontinent, on stand at TFWA.

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