Winter is back and with no social distancing in place anymore fending off diseases, throat sweets are set to make a return.
By Elena Dimama
The common cold and the seasonal flu came back before we had a chance to kiss our record-breaking hot summer goodbye, but that is good news for the medicated confectionery category.
One of the many retail casualties of the pandemic was this segment, as people masked up and did their best to avoid interaction for the better part of two years. Nowadays, daycare and schools are back, and so are commuting, office workers and indoor shopping. Couple this with less mask wearing and no social distancing, and viruses and bacteria look set to have a field day. And with it, retailers can finally benefit again from selling throat and cough sweets to the hoarse local shopper.
Collateral damage
“The various hygiene and physical distancing measures implemented by Member States to reduce SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission have likely played a role in reducing influenza virus transmission,” the World Health Organization said about the 2020-21 period. In Europe, seasonal flu was also recorded at “baseline levels” throughout the 2020-21 season, according to the body.
This had a significant effect on the medicated confectionery market, with sales of gum, mints and medicated confectionery falling significantly between 2019 and 2020, according to Mintel. “Medicated confectionery manufacturers should be poised to promote the throat-soothing, cough-taming properties of their products as consumers unused to living with cold and seasonal flu are once again faced with a need for these products,” Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight, Food & Drink, at Mintel, says.
Silver lining
However, relief candy as a category has grown by a significant 35% over the past year – highlighting just how important it is for retailers to get their ranges ready for this season, according to Nielsen data.
Halls saw a whopping 50% year-on-year growth in the past year, with penetration rates up 63% year-on-year. “Whether it be for menthol clearing or gentle soothing, shoppers will look for brands they know and trust in-store. Singles are the most important format across the category, making up 61% of sales,” Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International, explains.
“Products that are developed to help target specific issues at an early onset such as blocked noses drive high sales volumes, such as best-seller Halls Mentholyptus Extra Strong which provides menthol clearing feeling,” she adds. “Similarly, the Halls Soothers range, including best-selling flavour Blackcurrant, is developed to help gently soothe sore throats.”
New opportunity
“Looking at products whose texture is mentioned on-pack launched between July 2019 and June 2021, more than half have a hard texture, which allows them to dissolve slowly in the mouth, providing throat or cough relief. Chewy, runny and soft textures, while less common, are also used in medicated candy,” Mogelonsky adds. “A combination of textures could add a new dimension to medicated candy, and such products are likely to have special appeal to children, for whom a range of textured and popping confectionery is already on the market.”
As children return to school and other group activities, their exposure to seasonal viruses and germs will also rise. “Just as parents may be caught short by not having cough, cold or flu medications on hand when classes start, they are also likely to need to stock up on child-friendly throat soothers or cough tamers,” she notes.
Lozenges could also enjoy a new leash of life, following research which showed that throat lozenges containing a combination of benzydamine hydrochloride and cetypyridinium chloride may have a virucidal effect against Covid-19. Researchers at the Microbiology and Immunology Institute of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia used throat lozenges with a fixed combination of those two components and found that when used in a high concentration it resulted in “the fastest action when it comes to destroying the virus as it reduced viral concentration by 99.99%”.
Although the study is yet to be peer reviewed, the results have been described as a “positive step in finding ways to manage the spread of Covid-19”.
