Beatriz de Otto, Head of Customer Marketing World Travel Retail, Mondelez International.

PROMOTED CONTENT: To celebrate its three-decade anniversary, Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR) has partnered with TRBusiness to conduct an exclusive survey revealing insights into the evolution of the confectionery category in Asia. Beatriz de Otto, Head of Customer Marketing World Travel Retail, Mondelez International assesses the findings.

This year marks Mondelez’s 30th anniversary in world travel retail, a testament to the power of innovation and partnership. Over the past three decades, strategic collaborations have been essential in executing our Delighting Travelers category vision. Through these partnerships, we have elevated category awareness, championed our winning portfolio, and delivered unique experiences that drive penetration and conversion. As we celebrate this milestone, we reflect on the past, present, and future of confectionery and the broader travel retail sector.

Industry insight

We are committed to progressing the category by identifying trends that meet the dynamic demands of today’s travellers. Our recent poll conducted with TRBusiness provides valuable insights from airports, suppliers and retailers on key concepts shaping our industry.

The past: Exclusivity as a catalyst for change

Looking back on the last 30 years, 50% of respondents attributed the most significant shift in the confectionery category to the introduction of exclusive products and new brands. This trend was first among airports, retailers, and suppliers. The addition of new flavours ranked least important and was not ranked in airport responses. Experiential elements through digitisation and personalisation ranked second among airports and retailers with a high 27%, but only 9% for suppliers, highlighting different priorities. These findings underscore the game-changing nature of exclusive offerings, a concept integrated in Mondelez WTR’s portfolio, with channel-exclusive items like our sharing packs and sense of place Toblerone sleeves that resonate with travellers seeking unique products.

The present: Driving growth through personalisation

When looking at current growth opportunities in Asia, around one third of respondents said that curating bespoke shopping experiences is key to increasing spend per passenger. This sentiment was strong among all channels. Investing in marketing programmes ranked second for airports and retailers at 22% and 28%, respectively. Once again, suppliers indicated different priorities, placing greater value on cross-category partnerships and differentiation, both at 20%. Mondelez WTR has already embraced growth through personalisation with initiatives like the Toblerone Sleeve Printer, allowing travellers to personalise their purchases with text and images.

The future: A globally relevant portfolio

Looking ahead to future opportunities in confectionery, specifically in Asia, 24% of respondents said the biggest opportunity was in addressing the specific needs of nationalities. While airports prioritised this the most at 44%, retailers and suppliers showed less interest at 16% and 27%, respectively, indicating different channel perspectives.

Making global brand icons locally relevant ranked second overall at 21%, highlighting a shared focus on cultural resonance. Other answers lower down on the priority list include accelerating premium offerings at 17%, reimagining the market with new tools like AI at 15%, tapping into the health and wellbeing trends at 13%, and gifting at a low 5%. These findings highlight the importance of cultural awareness in increasing purchase motivations, a concept that is increasingly integrated into our portfolio. This includes our limited-edition Eid and Diwali Toblerone sleeves, launched in specific countries to meet the cultural preferences of shoppers.

Confectionery & Beyond

Perhaps the most important finding from this poll for Mondelez WTR is the great optimism our industry peers have displayed towards the future of confectionery. When asked about how optimistic they were regarding confectionery’s travel retail listings in Asia, 66% said they were somewhat or very optimistic. That number increased to 77% when asked about duty free sales, and we continued to see positive sentiments across other aspects like shelf space and in-store retailtainment. All three channels displayed an incredible show of support towards confectionery’s trajectory in Asia and beyond, further fuelling our motivations to collaborate more deeply, to advance and grow not only our category, but the broader travel retail industry.

A note on the data: The Mondelez World Travel Retail exclusive survey was carried out from May – June 2024 and attracted responses from a cross-section of stakeholders, including airports; retailers and concessionaires; and suppliers, agents and distributors.

The above is the unabridged version of the survey, carried out in partnership with TRBusiness. You can view the highlights in the accompanying TRBusiness August/September e-zine by clicking here.