Mars Wrigley unveils new products at Sweets and Snack Expo

Mars Wrigley is debuting dozens of new products at the National Confectioners Association’s Sweet and Snacks Expo in Chicago.

The Hackettstown, N.J.-based company will share industry-leading insights in category management research along with best practices.

"Consumers today are looking for a holistic shopping experience as lines between traditional retail and online shopping continue to blur," Tiffany Menyhart, vice president of U.S. category leadership at Mars Wrigley Confectionery, said. "Mars Wrigley Confectionery is investing in a variety of research to help develop tools and insights for retailers to maximize category growth. Numerous retailers have signed on to partner with us on customized merchandising recommendations based on our integrated approach, which features insights for the whole shopping journey, including in stores and online."

Attendees at the following show will get a first look at:

• New Halloween 2018 items, such as M&M’s fun-size milk chocolate and peanut chocolate candies glow in the dark packs; Skittles sweet heat fun size flavors, Dove Promises; milk chocolate, dark chocolate and caramel pumpkin, and variety mix party bowls containing M&M’s, Snickers and Skittles among others;


• New Christmas 2018 products, which feature a holiday minis mix tree gift box, Skittles holiday mix candy, Celebrations Chocolates Magnum gift bottle, M&M’s milk chocolate candies yard, Snickers bar yard and Twix bar yard among others;


• 5 Gum’s .99 cent eight-stick packs, which hit shelves in September, and come in cool mint vortex, cool berry beta and smooth mint nexus flavors;


• Alert Caffeine Gum, which provides 40mg of caffeine, comes in fruit or mint flavors and retails for $2.49;


• Combos Honey Sriracha, which features sweet honey, garlic and chili pepper Sriracha flavors, retailing for $1.38;


• Dove Chocolate Covered Dusted Almonds and Cashews, which come in cinnamon dusted dark chocolate almonds, sea salt dusted milk chocolate cashews and cocoa dusted dark chocolate cashew flavors. It comes in a 1.6-oz. slim pack that retails for $1.99, and 5-oz. and 5.5-oz. stand-up pouches that retail for $3.99;


• Extra Chewy Mints, which come in peppermint and polar ice flavors, and are packaged in a 1.5-oz. pack that retails for $2.19 or a 7.5-oz. stand-up bag for $6.99;


• Juicy Fruit Collisions, which contain two flavors in every stick, come in strawberry watermelon and tropical berry flavor collisions. Hitting shelves in May, it comes in a 15-stick single-serve pack that retails for $1.19 and three 15-stick single-serve packs for $2.69;


• Juicy Fruit Mixies, which debuted four fruity flavors in each bottle, contains a mix of original, strawberry, watermelon and grape flavors. It comes in a 15-piece single-serve bottle for $1.49, 40-piece bottle for $3.49 and 120-piece stand-up bag.


• Juicy Fruit Tropical, which is a sweet and tasty flavor, come in a five-piece pack that retails for .79 cents;


• M&M'S Snack Mix, which contains M&M'S Milk Chocolate Candies, M&M'S Crispy Chocolate Candies, Almonds and Pretzel Balls. M&M'S Peanut Mix contains M&M'S Peanut Chocolate Candies, M&M'S Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies, Peanuts and Pretzel Balls that retail $1.69 to $1.99 for 1.75-oz. share size, $2.00 to $2.99 for 4.0-oz. grab n go, $2.99 to $3.99 for 7.7-oz. sharing size;


• M&M'S White Chocolate Peanut, which is made of peanuts surrounded by white chocolate and a candy shell that will launch in September, and comes in singles, share and sharing sizes that retail from .99 cents to $3.39;


• Milky Way Fudge, which comes in both share size and minis that retails for $1.10 and features chocolate, golden caramel and fudge nougat;


• Snickers Peanut Butter Crisper, which provides a balance of sweet, salty, creamy and crispy. It comes in four portionable squares that retail between $1.69 to $1.79 for the share size;


• Snickers Hunger Bars, which come in espresso, fiery, or salty and sweet flavors that retail between .99 cents to $1.29;


• Skittles Sweet Heat, which features fruity flavors with a spicy kick including fiery watermelon, blazin' mango, flamin' orange, sizzlin' strawberry and lemon spark. It comes in single packs that retail for $0.99, share-size packs for $1.79, lay down bags for $3.19 and medium stand-up pouches for $2.59;


• Starburst Minis Sours, which includes cherry, blue raspberry, watermelon and strawberry flavors and comes in single packs that retail for .99 cents, peg bags for $2.09 and medium stand-up pouches for $2.59;


• Starburst Gummies Sour Berries, which contain strawberry, berry punch, wild berry and black raspberry flavors. It comes a 3.5-oz. share-size bag, 5.8-oz. peg bag and 8-oz. stand-up pouch that retails between $1.79 to $2.59;


• Starburst Sweet Heat, which features cherry, blue raspberry, watermelon and strawberry flavors. A single pack retails for .99 cents, share size pack for $1.79, lay down bag for $3.19 and medium stand-up pouch for $2.59; and


• Twix White Chocolate Cookie Bars, which feature two crunchy cookie bars covered with smooth caramel and enrobed in creamy white chocolate. It retails between .99 cents to $1.09 for a 1.79-oz. single, $1.69 to $1.79 for 2.64-oz. 2 to go, $3.49 to $4.99 for a fun size medium bag.

"At Mars Wrigley Confectionery we continuously have a pulse on the latest flavor trends driving growth and make it a priority to address evolving consumer preferences through product innovation," Tim LeBel, president of sales for Mars Wrigley Confectionery, said. "Not only are we delivering exciting new flavor profiles, packaging formats and functional products, but we are also addressing an increasing consumer and retailer desire for unique offerings around key seasonal moments throughout the year."