(an advertising supplement) Bendicks (Mayfair) Ltd Moorside Road Winchester Hampshire SO23 7SA Tel: 01962 844 800 Fax: 01962 841 547 Website: www.bendicks.co.uk Key personnel Head of Marketing Anne Hollamby Managing Director Paul Seftel Sales Director Richard Drayson Key brands Bendicks Mint Collection Bendicks Luxury Chocolates Bendicks Luxury Eggs Campino Werther's Original Riesen Lifting the lid on luxury "Bendicks means business in 2001," says Anne Hollamby, recently appointed Head of Marketing at Bendicks, one of the leading players in the luxury and premium confectionery market. "In 2000, we saw Bendicks Mint Collection maintaining its position as the No 1 mint chocolate assortment and Bendicks Luxury Chocolates as No 1 in the premium boxed chocolate environment. We will be looking to grow our position in these areas further this year with a heavy programme of activity to support the Bendicks brand." Recognising that innovation is key to growth, the launch of Campino in May 2000 for Bendicks (the UK subsidiary of German confectionery manufacturer Storck) represented a major step forward in the category, creating a new luxury taste segment and helping drive growth of the overall market. Hollamby comments: "A blend of real cream and natural fruit ingredients, Campino (available in two flavours ­ Strawberries and Cream and Oranges and Cream) has succeeded in bringing in new consumers to sugar confectionery and has taken the lion's share of the luxury fruit segment. Heavyweight support for Campino, including a massive £4 million TV campaign starting in March and promotional activity, will continue throughout 2001." Value versus volume The UK confectionery market commands almost 100% penetration and has one of the highest per capita consumption levels in the world. But after decades of growth the market has been largely static over the past two years. So has the market bottomed out? No, says Hollamby, but popular pricing strategies are not doing it any favours. "Due to the impulse nature of the category, confectionery is heavily promotionally driven, a standard price/strong promotion strategy drives volume. The Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP) strategy which some retailers are now employing results in lower volumes and erodes the category value and therefore less cash is available to invest in developing the sector," she says. Added to this pressure is competition for the share of purse within impulse confectionery, which has intensified over the last year. Now, confectionery products are fighting with, among other things, mobile phone top-up cards and kids trading cards. "The traditional confectionery gift sector is under pressure as well, with confectionery now competing with non-food items, such as flowers and wine," says Hollamby. "All in all, there is a very real challenge for confectionery, and boxed chocolates especially, to drive increased penetration and maximise presence within store. There is really only one answer ­ innovation and developing new opportunities for usage." Heroes of the hour The well documented success of Celebrations and Miniature Heroes (worth £81 million and £37 million respectively) has not resulted in the expected cannibalisation of inlaid chocolates. That's hardly surprising, says Hollamby. "Twist wraps' success is entirely brand related. In other words, not being special is their unique selling point. Twist Wraps add a new dimension to boxed chocolates, offering mass market accessibility by bringing countline usage to this particular market segment." Seen as a familiar everyday treat (not too indulgent or too expensive) twist wraps are viewed as being more permissible than other gifting chocolates. In fact, the net result has been to grow the boxed chocolate sector, says Hollamby. {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}

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