Left: Femke van Veen, Brand Manager, GTR, PVM. Right: The Chupa Chups mascot in Cannes.

Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) is capitalising on the continued return to travel to help the company reach pre-pandemic sales levels in travel retail, supported by a strategic roll out of new products and activations.

“We are aggressively targeting travel retail sales levels of 2019 for 2023,” said Femke van Veen, Brand Manager, GTR, PVM.

“Before the pandemic, we knew we needed to address decreasing levels of footfall; now that passenger numbers are up again, we are paying attention to increasing customer footfall in line with returning PAX.

“We are looking at new ways to be visible on the shop floor, with more focus on cash till opportunities and POS for both Chupa Chups and Mentos.”

When TRBusiness caught up with van Veen during the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes, a host of new product launches were in the spotlight.

The limited edition Mentos Fanta launched into travel retail with selected European and global distribution in Q4 2022.

Among the highlights is the limited edition (available until the end of 2023) Mentos Fanta, which launched in travel retail with selected European and global distribution in Q4 2022 and is further rolling out this year.

The new flavour, targeted towards Gen Z consumers, has been created in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and marks the first global licensing offer from PVM.

“We have very high expectations for it,” said van Veen.

“Aside from our NPD, our number one goal this year is engagement on the shop floor,” she adds.

Travellers can pose for fun photos at the new Chupa Chups customer engagement activation concept.

Step forward the new Chupa Chups customer engagement activation concept, which was unveiled in Cannes and is set to tour airports around the world, with its debut likely to be in Europe imminently, over a two-month period.

“As a category, we have to work together and emphasise how important confectionery is within the ecosystem of our industry.” Femke van Veen, Brand Manager, GTR, PVM

Hubs in popular holiday destinations are the main target due to the concept’s family-friendly appeal.

READ MORE: Chupa Chups engagement kiosk expected to debut in Europe in 2023

In terms of the exact location, she hints: “Firstly, we will look to where we are available in terms of our full assortment and where we have good visibility.

“I truly hope we can have more than one of the kiosks, but that depends on the demand that is out there.”

The activation kiosk brings the fun, inviting travellers to have their photo taken as one of the characters in the Chupa Chups backpack animal family, take away an instant print, and receive the digital photo using a QR code – that’s on top of shopping the latest products.

“Our brands have very colourful and eye-catching products,” said van Veen. “And with that, we can help retailers to drive footfall.”

READ MORE: PVM unveils Chupa Chups customer engagement activation concept

This can be enhanced thanks to the life-sized Chupa Chups tiger mascot.

The Chupa Chups tiger mascot was a hit in Cannes.

“These are ways to get people inside the store,” she commented. “And when they are there, you want to give them activations to keep them a bit longer inside, which hopefully translates to higher conversion.”

More widely, a focus on refreshment is top of mind.

Mentos Mints Strawberry flavour.

“It’s a no-brainer but as a traveller you want to have refreshment – chewing gum or a mint. As a company, PVM is really strong at the cash till with refreshment items.”

The recently launched pack design for Mentos Gum, which is curvier and more compact, fits perfectly with this.

Two new Pure Fresh flavours (Strawberry and a fortified Vitamins Gum in citrus flavour for the European market) are being introduced, building on the Fresh Mint and Spearmint options. Also new for 2023 are Mentos Mints Peppermint and Strawberry flavours, in slimline tins with flip top lids.

As van Veen summarised: “You can definitely increase the basket size with these types of impulse products.”

This feature first appeared in the TRBusiness January 2023 e-zine.