Mars Chocolate rolls out new flavors, welcomes back fan favorites
HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. — Mars Chocolate on Thursday announced a plethora of new products that will appear on retail store shelves in the coming months, with two of the items — M&M's Crispy Chocolate Candies and Snickers Xtreme Bar — making a return due to popular demand.
“We’re introducing some tantalizing new flavors to our brand portfolios, as well as relaunching popular M&M’s brand Crispy Chocolate Candies and Snicker's Xtreme Bar,” said Rick LaBerge, VP of sales for Mars Chocolate North America. “Consumers are passionate about their chocolate, and they’re excited to try new flavor combinations from the brands they know and love.”
The new products, which were unveiled at the 2014 National Association of Convenience Stores in Las Vegas, include:
3 Musketeers Mint Bites, bite-sized candies featuring mint-flavored nougat coated in dark chocolate;
Combos Baked Snacks Sweet & Salty Caramel Crème Pretzel, which delivers the taste of caramel crème candy with a salty pretzel crunch;
Combos Baked Snacks Sweet & Salty Vanilla Frosting Pretzel, which combines the flavors of salty pretzels and vanilla frosting;
Dove Whole Fruit Dipped in Dark Chocolate, a combination of real fruit dipped in Dove Dark Chocolate;
Twix Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars, which feature a layer of savory peanut butter on a Twix Cookie Bar, all coated with milk chocolate. The new recipe includes a traditional crunchy Twix Cookie Bar instead of a chocolate cookie, the company noted; and
Seasonal Shapes in both singles and to-go formats. Shapes include Twix brand ghosts, Santas, hearts and eggs, as well as Snickers brand pumpkins, Nutcrackers, hearts and eggs.
Sales of seasonal confectionery items continue to rise as consumers celebrate the holidays with their favorite brands, the company said. LaBerge also added that holidays are a prime time for retailers to add shippers and secondary display options around stores.
“Confectionery is the most responsive category to merchandising, so it’s critical to place secondary displays along the path to purchase in what we call ‘hot spot’ locations,” LaBerge said. “The ‘hot spots’ in a convenience store are by the register, cold vault, foodservice/deli and fountain drinks. When shoppers reach for a beverage or a sandwich, they’re likely to grab a chocolate bar.”