Nestlé ITR is poised to champion its mission to build food into the number one most purchased category in travel retail at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes next week (2-6 October).

The food company is returning to its Beach Village location (Beach 7) and putting its growth strategy firmly in the spotlight.

“During 2022 we have been engaging directly with our retail partners, who are embracing the opportunity to grow sales by thinking of food beyond confectionery,” said Nestlé ITR General Manager Stewart Dryburgh.

The strategy launched in October 2021 and Nestlé has since commissioned a study by m1nd-set to further validate the opportunity and gain a deeper understanding of how different categories appeal to travelling consumers and the affinity for major food subcategories.

Key learnings from the research include that food (including confectionery) holds the highest appeal of any category at 69%, after beauty (59%).

Furthermore, 75% of millennials (the fastest growing segment) put the food category first.

Looking at subcategories, the likelihood to buy coffee was overwhelmingly positive (81%) with biscuits also performing strongly.

During the TFWA World Exhibition, Nestlé will be unveiling more details and discussing directly with retail partners how this in-depth research can inform the category assortment and help to drive growth.

“Food, including confectionery, is already the #1 driver of cross-category purchase and the second most purchased category,” said Dryburgh.

“This gives us a very strong platform from which to build.

“In Cannes, we will be discussing these opportunities with our partners, including a focus on both coffee and the fast-emerging health and wellness segment – incredibly relevant yet extremely under-developed within our distribution channel.”

As previously reported, Nestlé’s Food strategy will be delivered through the VERSE model: Value, Engagement, Regeneration, Sense of Place and Execution.

“Each of these drivers is critical in achieving our goal and giving the consumer the best shopping experience,” said Dryburgh.

“Fast rising inflation and cost of living are of great concern, but we are confident that the combination of accessible price points and high consumer appeal means that the food category can be a key growth driver.

“In fact, it has been one of the most resilient categories during previous downturns.”

Nestlé will be unveiling investments across all the levers of the VERSE model during customer meetings, from products that will create value to the ways in which the company is driving engagement across the customer journey by leveraging digital tools.

There are a number of sustainability related activities to talk about, including the sustainable packaging initiative by Smarties to introduce recyclable paper packaging for all its confectionery products globally in 2021.

More key talking points include the move to sourcing chocolate featuring 100% sustainable cocoa via the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, the recent introduction of the KitKat Vegan traveller’s pack, and the Nestlé Income Accelerator plan, which helps farmers to reach a living income (awarded Sustainability Hero status in the recent TRBusiness awards).

Visitors to the stand will also be able to view Nestlé’s full travel retail product portfolio of leading brands, from KitKat and Smarties to Nescafé, the travel retail exclusive Nestlé Swiss, as well as local favourites After Eight and Quality Street.

“We know there are still major challenges facing the industry, but we also know that there is a strong consumer desire to travel,” said Dryburgh.

“This year we have experienced increases in footfall in Europe, the Middle East, and North America, while it’s also good to see most of Asia now starting to open up.

“We’re looking forward to a very busy and productive week in Cannes.”