Identifying opportunities
When I asked Ruben Taks, International Sales Engineer at Lareka Confectionery Equipment, whether he believes that the personalisation trend posed any challenges to confectionery producers, he laughed! “Rather than a challenge, this trend should be viewed as an opportunity,” he says. “It has the potential to open up new markets for confectioners and to add value to existing product lines.” Offering an example, he cited Lareka’s work with artisan
chocolatiers who are adding personalised packaging to their standard product lines for corporate customers. “The mark- up for simply personalising the packaging can be huge,” continues Ruben. “We have seen producers doubling their mark-up, simply by adding a personalised wrapper to a standard product.” I went on to ask Ruben how confectioners reap similar
rewards by personalising their packaging. He says: “To offer a personalised wrapper, confectioners will either need to hand wrap pre-cut wrappers or, if the number of products increases sufficiently, to purchase a wrapping machine for bars, tablets, and indeed all types of confectionery, that works with pre-cut wrappers, instead of from a roll, which tends to be the norm. Wrapping machines do exist that will allow personalised packaging down to batch sizes of one, if necessary – assuming, of course, that you are able to print the wrappers cost-effectively.”
Celebrating Women Everywhere
Hershey’s has introduced a limited-edition milk chocolate bar which highlights ‘SHE’. The special design was created to celebrate women and
girls everywhere, and it coincides with Women’s History Month celebrations which run throughout March in the US. From daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, neighbours, mentors, coaches and co-workers, to the barista who knows your order by heart, Hershey’s asks us all to take a moment to celebrate SHE. “We are surrounded by women and girls that inspire us
every single day. Creating this simple, but powerful and colourful change to our milk chocolate bar serves as a reminder of how important they are in our lives,” explains Veronica Villasenor, Vice President, US, The Hershey Company. To continue the celebration of SHE, Hershey’s is also
partnering with Girls on the Run, a non-profit organisation with a mission focused on supporting, empowering and inspiring girls to realise their limitless potential. As part of the partnership, Hershey’s is donating $150,000 to Girls on the Run.
The Hershey Company says that it is on a journey of
celebrating and investing in women in the workplace and communities. Named #1 on the World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies list by Forbes in 2021, The Hershey Company is among only a handful of Fortune 500 companies led by women. Hershey is committed to equal pay, career development and supporting impactful non-profit partners among other initiatives to support women.
Ruben went on to highlight the importance of finding a partner who is able to design and print good quality wrappers, if you do not have the technology to do so in house. “Make sure that they are able to offer you fast lead times, even for minimal order sizes,” warns Ruben. “Often orders for personalised products will come in for events that are due to happen in the very near future – to be able to offer a good service, therefore, requires rapid turnaround times for both the design and print in addition to delivery of the finished products.” Ruben advises that one of the first steps should be to identify whether there is a market for personalising your product. He says: “We absolutely believe that confectionery personalisation can help increase profitability – but we always advise our customers to first identify their own opportunities in this sector. The only thing you really need to take the first step into this market is access to a good designer and a good quality printer – once you have the wrappers you could
40 Kennedy’s Confection March 2022
even wrap by hand if necessary, while quantities are small or you could work with a third-party to help personalise your standard product to meet early demand, until you are confident that the volumes are high enough and consistent enough to invest in your own packaging solution.” When it comes to catching the consumer’s eye, Ruben’s
advice is that whatever you do – be different! “For some this might mean a rainbow of colours for others it might be something. more subtle – but never be a copycat. Always try to offer something unique and make sure your packaging reflects your product and your price point. Never forget that that you can produce the best chocolate in the world but if your packaging doesn’t attract the right customers then no one will ever know that – always remember that the quality of your packaging should be as important as the quality of your product.”
KennedysConfection.com
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