Easter looms

December; the month of busy trading in readiness for Christmas. We hope that it is going well for you and you are selling plenty of confectionery!

Meanwhile, the wholesalers are busy stacking their shelves with Easter goodies such as Crème Eggs and Mini Eggs. What a crazy world we live in. But yes, this is just a polite reminder that sales for egg shaped treats such as those aforementioned and many more besides, start to roll in from January onwards.

Easter has become a challenge for many retailers where confectionery is concerned. The supermarkets have well and truly taken over the standard branded egg market and discounted it to the limit. But in doing so, I think that a good proportion of consumers have started to tire of the “plentiful cheap eggs” theme at Easter. Children can now receive so many chocolate eggs simply because they are so cheap! But I’m not sure that is where everyone wishes to be. We want to buy chocolate gifts for our family and friends but we also want it to feel a little bit special and not just a grab-and-go at the local supermarket.

Clever retailers consider the Easter gifting market carefully and develop a range that is different and perhaps a little bit more special than the masses. That doesn’t mean to say it’s a more expensive range; just more carefully thought out, specifically with local shoppers in mind. Consider Easter confectionery gifts that are not simply eggs. You could also contemplate what bespoke packing you might wish to undertake, to create something really unique. Give some thought also to the speciality chocolate manufacturers that are often happy for you to buy from them direct.

You might want to take some time to consider (or re-consider) who your customers are and what they actually want to buy from you in the run up to Easter. Do you serve an older audience or parents with young children? Perhaps you are located in quite an affluent area where premium gifting would sell well? What is the value of your own brand? All of these such factors will clearly have an impact on the range that would perform best in your store.

There are so many more Easter gifting confectionery products to consider beyond the main brands and the core range that the supermarkets collectively attack. So why not make 2014 the year to consider this opportunity (yes, there is still an opportunity at Easter) early so that you can be ready to reap the rewards from a carefully chosen range of confectionery gifts.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Do we want "healthy" Kit Kats?

The latest announcement is that both Nestle and Mondelez have committed to the government’s “Responsibility Deal”, agreeing to re-formulate chocolate bar recipes and reduce the level of saturated fat in them to provide a more healthy chocolate.

Kit Kat is one of the first products to be revamped and I think that we will all wait with baited breath to see what it actually tastes like!

Obesity is a serious issue; we all know that. And it is right that the government should be looking to develop policies that could help to address this very real problem. But, do we want our standard main branded chocolate products to be re-created and marketed, dare I suggest it, as “healthy”? Let's face it, they will never be a truly healthy product and that is almost the point of them.

We all seem to be suffering as a result of those that over-eat the wrong things and spend too much time on their backsides! Surely, as it has been for generations, it’s a question of balance and that is what the government should be paying more attention to addressing?

People are obese because they eat too much of the wrong foods and don’t exercise enough. That is surely the essence of it?

We all like to have a treat and chocolate is just that. It’s a sweet treat. Not a daily food substance that our bodies can survive on. If chocolate becomes “healthy”, first of all, is it still a treat and secondly, is that going to make those that need to, eat less of it? I doubt it.

We’ll watch the developments with interest and I look forward (I think) to tasting and comparing the “new” Kit Kat when it arrives. But I honestly don’t think that re-formulating long standing chocolate bars is going to create a healthy nation. For that, we need to change the mindset and habits of a huge number of people that need to understand the difference between food groups, develop some self discipline and become a little more active.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Do your customers engage?

We are spotting more and more retailers embrace Twitter for the first time – even the smallest; working to build up a small community of their own to engage with. It’s free and for many, can be very effective indeed.

Smaller retailers can use the likes of Twitter and Facebook to talk with their local customers, getting feedback from time to time and communicating offers and special events when need be.

It certainly cannot harm any confectionery retailer to have a go and build a “community” over time! Of course, you will generally reach out to your most proactive and loyal customers in the main. Those that seek you out on social networks or take action having read that you are there to talk to. So to my mind, social networks can be a great tool for confectionery retailers to engage with their best customers and keep them close.

So how can you engage with the more infrequent customers that you welcome through your doors? Many might pop in just a few times a year when the need arises. Well maybe a need might arise in the run up to Christmas and you could use that to your advantage!

As well as going to town on your product range at Christmas time, it’s a great opportunity to recruit some more customers to engage with beyond the festive season. Think about advertising a weekly giveaway on Twitter or Facebook in your store. Perhaps you supply an exclusive discount code via Facebook every Friday. You could develop a social media promotion whereby every friend on Facebook gets entered into a prize draw to win something rather big.

There are lots of ways to encourage your customers, regular and infrequent, to sign up to your social media and there is no better time than when you might be a bit busier. Use your store, counter and bags to communicate the benefits and look forward to engaging with more customers socially during 2014.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Christmas Confectionery

It's almost that time again, can you believe it? Christmas will soon be upon us and with it, all manner of Christmas sweets and chocolates in all shapes, sizes and flavours. Well, we will try to help your planning by creating a list of the brand new Christmas confectionery products that we are aware of from a variety of confectionery manufacturers and suppliers.

So if you are a confectionery supplier, please tell us what you are launching! We need product details, rrp and a photo emailing to us at mail@sweetretailing.co.uk as soon as you can.

If you are a confectionery retailer we'd advise you to start thinking about Christmas very soon and consider the type of categories that you need to offer your customers. The more in tune you are with their requirements, the more profitable for you! Consider the following questions:

Do you know what your core customer profile is?
When do your customers start to think about buying confectionery for Christmas?
How much of their Christmas confectionery might they buy from you?
Which of these opportunities can you take advantage of:

• early festive opportunities such as self-eat/treat purchases and chocolate advent calendars
• small items for stocking fillers (often purchased over a long period)
• small confectionery gifts purchased for friends, colleagues, neighbours and teachers
• larger items that may form part or all of a main gift

Consider whether you should stock premium items, value confectionery, main branded items or fun and novel ideas.
If you have a child audience, what will they spend their pocket money on closer to Christmas?
How much space do you have to allocate to a Christmas confectionery display or will it form part of another display?
Where do you prefer to buy your stock from and what advice can you glean from your suppliers?
What did your competition do last year?
How will you communicate your Christmas range to your customers?

We'll be back soon and will start to build up a list for you as we enter the early stages of the festive season. In the meantime, let's enjoy the last few weeks of the summer and put thoughts of Christmas confectionery to one side for just a little longer...if we can!

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Truly healthy chocolate

I think there are two schools of thought where healthy chocolate is concerned and it seems that the issue is only going to become more prominent as companies and entrepreneurs develop their capabilities and inventiveness.

In the “No” camp are those that believe a little bit of what you fancy is good for you and that if chocolate were indeed healthy, it would not be quite the treat that we have craved and adored for so many generations. Indeed many purists believe there is no possible way that any so called “healthy chocolate” could taste as good as the real thing; and we are not going to give up such a taste that easily! So unhealthy it has to remain, for the good of the nation and our spirits. Sweet Retailing has no end of examples of new chocolate bars fitting this need for the nation.

The “Yes” camp however is gaining ground. It is starting to get interesting now and develop much further than any previous research demonstrating that dark 70%+ chocolate has certain health benefits when eaten in moderation.

Aneesh Popat is a 25 year old, self taught chocolatier in London. Having set up his business, The Chocolatier, two years ago, he claims that he can make chocolate bars that contain less than 20 calories. That’s quite a claim!

Aneesh has created “water ganache” and uses no butter, cream, gelatine or eggs in his chocolate; just his special ganache and high quality cocoa. The result is a remarkably “pure” chocolate that can then be infused with all manner of flavours.

Is this really chocolate? Well if the interest he is receiving demonstrates anything, it certainly is. Having exhibited at a number of food shows, Aneesh is hoping to supply a number of fine restaurants with his healthy chocolate in addition to opening his first chocolate shop in St Pancras station later on this year.

Warwick University would certainly support Aneesh’s work having undertaken some interesting research earlier in the year. They managed to create a half fat chocolate by replacing fat with fruit juice in the form of micro bubbles so that the texture remained firm. The University project also claimed that vitamin C water could be used and that there was no detriment to the taste.

So is the future of chocolate going to be healthy chocolate? Great news for weight watchers I guess but will it still provide the same level of satisfaction? I mean, I love eating fresh blueberries but it’s not the same as a piece of rich chocolate of an evening is it?

We’d be interested to hear what you think on the issue of healthy chocolate and we will watch developments with great interest as I am sure many will; not least the larger chocolate manufacturers to see if such a trend is to become niche or mass market.

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Guest bloggers welcome!

We generally have a lot to say, but I expect that you do too? We would love to hear from you if you work within the UK confectionery industry (supplier, retailer or otherwise) or associated industries and have an interesting point to cover in our blog. Now's your chance!

Please don't contact us if you simply want to promote your company for free as that is not the point at all. You are welcome to promote your company on our website for a small fee and we will happily discuss the options with you.

What we want to hear about is any business that has some thoughts of interest to UK confectionery retailers. Perhaps you are a retailer and you've done something a bit different that you want to brag about? Perhaps you are a supplier wanting to shout about a really good way retailers could develop their confectionery sales? Perhaps you just have a strong opinion about a relevant issue?

We will consider any well written piece that fits this sort of criteria if we think it would be of benefit to our readers. Simple really. So we look forward to hearing from you if you'd like to contribute something to our confectionery retailing blog.

Please email us: mail@sweetretailing.co.uk

www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Should we rant and rave?

Well this is very interesting. You can now phone or text 66099 for free and tell them what you love or hate about any retailer or brand. Always plenty to say, I tried it myself. I “ranted” about the poor service I had received in a well known high street retailer recently. Within a couple of minutes my “rant” was there for all to see on the website, (www.66099.co.uk) which also assured me that I had been entered into a draw to win £50 of vouchers for my efforts.

Rant and Rave has been set up by a company called Rapide and it is free to both shoppers and retailers; 300 retailers have already signed up. The system collects all feedback, good and bad, allowing retailers to sign up and create an account so that they can regularly monitor any “noise” about themselves.

On scanning through recent entries I can see that the likes of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Costa, B&Q and Pret a Manger are all there to name a few. The service clearly needs to build its awareness further to develop real momentum and I think this is entirely possible.

So just how is this relevant to you? Well, I think it just might be for many retailers, small and large. You want to know what your customers think of you but perhaps they don’t always tell you honestly to your face. Many would prefer not to tell the company directly at all. To have a simple and anonymous system that allows comments to be collated could be really useful indeed. It struck me that any retailer (even the smallest of sweet shops) could advertise Rant and Rave in their shop, “Tell us what you think of us, text or call 66099 for free!” On creating a free account, the retailer can then monitor all of the comments that come in. How useful!

Rant and Rave could just work. We all like to be heard but we don’t always want to tell the retailer directly. But this is just the sort of information that retailers want to collect – whatever you retail. If you could have a better insight into your shoppers’ thoughts (good and bad) it could really help you to steer your ship through what are quite tricky waters these days.

For further information take a look at www.rantandrave.com

More from us at www.sweetretailing.co.uk

Is "crowd funding" an option?

I was reading about a 23 year old entrepreneur in Cleethorpes that has appealed for “crowd funding” in order to help set up his new sweet shop, Sugar Rush. For a donation of £5 to £100, the generous recipient is duely rewarded with something in return. I assume in this case, something to do with sweets! Matthew hopes to raise around £1,500 towards the set up of his shop which he feels will be welcomed by the community.

It’s not the first time that a confectionery retailer has turned to its customers for financial help. In 2010, Hotel Chocolat offered its 100,000 “Tasting Club” members FSA approved chocolate bonds at £2,000 each. The result was an investment of £3.7m, with all of the investors receiving bi monthly chocolate deliveries instead of dividends! Hotel Chocolate went on to use the money to develop its manufacturing site in Cambridgeshire, creating 250 new jobs.

Maybe the idea of “crowd funding” is more viable than we think. In these challenging retail times, perhaps your most loyal customers would actually help you to develop and grow going forward by investing a modest amount of money for some element of a regular reward? We’d be interested to hear about any examples where this has worked.

Perhaps an existing confectionery retailer could set up an investment scheme whereby the investor received a special discount card for all of their future purchases? Or maybe it is as simple as a regular supply of sweets and chocolate? Consumers can certainly become emotionally attached to products and retailers within the confectionery market; such is our love of sweets and chocolate! We are quick to “like” our favourite sweet treats by way of their Facebook page so I wonder just how far some of us might go to help them survive and thrive?

I wish Matthew Greenacre all the very best with his Sugar Rush sweet shop. I hope that the good people of Cleethorpes support him and subsequently enjoy the fun of a new sweet shop on their block.

Learn more about UK confectionery retailing at www.sweetretailing.co.uk