With Halloween now the third biggest event on the retail calendar, more brands than ever are letting their imaginations run wild with more limited products than ever before creeping onto c-store shelves. We look at this year’s big offerings.
Hula Hoops
KP Snacks is launching a fun-sized pack of Original Hula Hoops for Trick or Treaters at Halloween. The limited edition packs will be available in 20x10g (fun-sized) bags, with 15 in a case, retailing at £2.
Tangerine Confectionery
A new entrant to the scary fun of Halloween is Butterkist, which is launching a limited edition Toffee Apple flavour. The Limited Edition flavours are part of a wider strategy and will be launched seasonally, with Toffee Apple (rrp £1.49) available on shelf from September while stocks last, and is ideal for trick or treat nights, firework displays or watching scary movies.
Cadbury
Cadbury Screme Egg is making a comeback this year, along with a number of other products, including Cadbury Crunchy Spiders, which launched last year and were the number two selling. Dual display solutions are available to allow retailers can merchandise them together. Cadbury Screme Egg Minis will also be returning, along with Cadbury Dead Heads – mini milk chocolate heads with gory red caramel centres. Joining the Halloween confectionery family this year is Maynards Sour Patch Kids, which is launching a limited edition Heads and Bodies impulse bag.
Burton’s
There is a huge range of Halloween-themed biscuits available from Burton’s, including: Cadbury Fingers (Terrifying Toffee Witches Sticks), Cadbury Mini Animals (Halloweenies), Cadbury Mallows (Vampire Bites), Cadbury Mini Scary Fingers and a mixed bag of Monster Treats containing three packs each of Maryland Cookies, Cadbury Fingers, Cadbury Animals and Jammie Dodgers.
Terrifying tips
- The Halloween segment can easily become difficult to shop. A focussed range, clear segmentation and signposting on shelf will help boost sales.
- Spook shoppers in September by stocking countline novelties. These have the highest ROS of the total Halloween range but can get lost on a crowded shelf. Stock a targeted range of top-selling SKUs to avoid overcramming the fixture.
- Confectionery party bags are perfect for Halloween parties. Merchandise these together on-shelf with other party bags.
Maynards
Joining the Halloween confectionery family from Mondelez this year is Maynards Sour Patch Kids, which is launching a limited edition Heads and Bodies impulse bag. The cheeky characters feature the same core product flavour, but with separated heads and bodies, all set to provide a gruesome sweet treat for kids this year.
AG Barr
Making its mark on shelves this Halloween, Irn-Bru regular and Sugar Free will be available in two-litre twin-packs (price-marked at £2.69), alongside appropriately-themed two-litre packs of Barr SCream Soda, Slimy Limeade and Chilling Cherryade, each price-marked at 99p. There’s also a haunting range of 330ml Barr Halloween packs, price-marked at 39p/3 for £1, including Chilling Cherryade, SCream Soda and Petrifying Pineapple.
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Coca-Cola Enterprises is getting dressed up with promotional packaging will feature party tips and ideas for the perfect scary get-together, including ghostly jokes, gruesome recipes and games. Available from the end of September, the packs will feature Halloween-themed graphics on two-litre, 6 and 8 x 330ml multi-pack formats across Fanta Orange, Orange Zero, Icy Lemon and Fruit Twist SKUs and 2L Red Fruits.
McVities
This Halloween will see the return of the Limited Edition McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes Lemon and Slime, which proved to be a spookily successful treat for consumers in 2012. Also being introduced by McVities are Mini Digestives Creepy Shapes feature Mini Digestive biscuits, half coated in a layer of milk chocolate, while a collection of creepy characters make up the new McVitie’s Minis Gruesome Gang.
Trick-or-treatsize tub
As we get closer to the event, families prepare for trick-or-treaters, so retailers should stock up on the top brands to make the most of the segment. Mondelez International offers multiple solutions for trick-or-treat shoppers with treatsize packs of key favourites, such as Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel and Cadbury Crunchie, as well as bespoke Halloween product, Cadbury Trick-or-Treatsize Tub.
Goody Good Stuff
Goody Good Stuff has created a brand new Halloween multi-bag of its popular free-from confectionery for wholesalers and retailers to stock this October. The Goody Good Stuff Halloween Mix Multi Bag has an rrp of £3.49 and contains 16 snack-size (25g) packs of the all-natural sweets. The bags are now available for retailers to stock. Two new exclusive flavours will also be available in the Halloween packs – Sour Cheery Cherries and Sour Koala Gummy Bears.
