Distribution Channels - October 2005
Candy Profiles, Sweet Success (by Lisa White)

America has not lost its sweet tooth.  Despite the recent focus on consumers’ expanding waistlines, the candy category remains strong.

Among the 995 new confectionary products that debuted in 2004, 395 were non-chocolate, 325 were chocolate, there were 189 snack bar introductions and 86 new gums debuted, according to the Vienna, VA-based National Confectioners Association (NCA).

At its 2005 Expo, the NCA identified a number of trends that are driving this category.  These include limited edition items; high-end sweets; reintroduced childhood favorites; innovative flavors; themed candy from movie and television hits; and candy with emphasis on health, which includes the exploding diet segment.

In the following pages, Distribution Channels provides detailed information on a few of the industry’s leading edge candy companies.

BDI Marketing/Candy Dynamics

Headquarters: Carmel, IN
Number of Employees:  Approximately 20 employees at its corporate office, in addition to brokers throughout the United States, which represent BDI’s sales force.
Years in Operation:  24
Areas of Distribution:  BDI’s products are sold to more than 500 distributors who represent more than 80,000 c-stores nationwide.
Product Lines:  Candy Dynamics’ line features Toxic Waste Hazardously Sour Candy in apple, watermelon, lemon, blue raspberry and black cherry flavors.  The sour shell covers a sweet second layer that is followed by a sour core.
The company also has introduced Arctic Blast and Cherry Bomb high-impact energy strips.  Artic Blast features a peppermint flavor to freshen breath in addition to delivering 16 mg of caffeine per strip.  Cherry Bomb supplies 100 percent of the daily value of Vitamin B12.
BDI’s product line includes a wide variety of diet aid supplements, sexual enhancers and energy boosters.  The company also recently launched comprehensive body jewelry and cell phone charm programs designed specifically for the c-store market, as well as a moisturizing hand sanitizer and two new energy strips.
Goals & Objectives:  BDI’s goals include offering consumers the highest quality products at the most affordable prices.  Additionally, the company is devoted to the development of innovative formulas for accomplishing lifestyle objectives.
C-Store Appeal:  BDI’s products are designed specifically for convenience-oriented consumers who lead demanding and active lives.

Mints and more
BDI Marketing of Carmel, IN, has been in the energy business for 20 years and has been looking for a new delivery method, reports Laura King, vice president of marketing.  They found it in the newly launched Arctic Blast Energizer breath strips that not only contain peppermint, but caffeine as well.  Although the amount of caffeine is small, the fact that it is delivered sublingually means it gets into the blood stream faster.  “It’s a more concentrated boost of energy,” King says.

Cherry Bomb is another of BDI’s breath strips that provides a natural boost from vitamin B12.  It turns out that the only flavor that works with vitamin B12 is cherry.  Anything else, including mint, takes away the potency.

“Mints are a very popular category,” King says.  “Everyone is looking for instant breath fresheners.  Arctic Blast gives a great breath boost.”

The qualities of gum and mints that appeal to consumers have prompted several large companies to cover their bases and offer the same product in both forms.  Cadbury Adams, for example, took its popular Dentyne Ice gum and created Dentyne Ice Fire Mints.  Wrigley’s Eclipse has done the same thing.  Altoids did the reverse, starting with mints and moving into gum.

It’s a case of fighting for shelf space and brand recognition, says a spokesperson for Ferrero USA, makes of Tic Tacs.  These are front end items that are getting squeezed by magazines, batteries and other things.  If you have a brand that stands out, you get the space.  It creates a billboard effect more than just offering new flavors of the same item.

Aside from adding an occasional new flavor and making the little pellets slightly larger, Tic Tacs has remained basically the same for the past 30 years.  Tic Tacs are the number-one volume seller in mints.

“We believe in the strength of our brand,” says the Tic Tac spokesperson.  “We’ve made on of the strongest investments in the media to support our brand.  We’ve created an image over time.”

When it comes to Tic Tacs, “they are what they are,” the spokesperson notes.  “They deliver a bit more than breath freshening.  They are fun, lively and playful. Even the sound of Tic Tacs in the plain clear box is unmistakable.”

Waxing and waning
Technology has led to new products that pulled customers from one segment to another.  Once mints were riding high, only to see their fortunes fade under the weight of too many new products and the excitement of breath strips that melted on the tongue.  New methods boosting gum’s breath-freshening ability revived gum’s popularity.

“The gum category is doing what the mint category did six or seven years ago,” says Schuster.  “The mint category grew for years and was the engine of confections, but then got oversaturated and went south.  I believe it has bottomed out and is now gaining strength.  Now the major gum manufacturers have become obsessed with over-extending their brands.  The category will be cannibalized.”

Despite this, Schuster sees a bright future for gum and mints.  A new focus on functionality, technological advances, endless creativity in form of packaging, and a recognition of the benefits of these products make them winners.