Britons are calling out for old-favorites when it comes to confectionery.
Retro sweets have been growing in popularity in the UK in the last few years and 2009 has been no exception.
Tangerine Confectionery revamped its Barrat Sherbert Fountain and its Princess Marshmallow brands earlier this year to help nostalgic customers remember the sweets of their childhood. The company has also relaunched the Seventies favorite Mojo squirting jelly skulls, in time for Halloween 2009.
Pick n' Mix
And pick n’ mix classics are also drawing in the crowds.
British retailer Marks & Spencer said sales of its fizzy cola bottles, rhubarb & custard sweets and wine gums have gone up by 70% in the past year.
“I think our new retro sweets will be as popular with children today as those who remember tucking into them in decades past,” commented Matthew Jones, confectionery buyer for the supermarket chain Waitrose.
Retro Chocolate
Meanwhile, chocolate producers are also cashing in on the demand for nostalgic brands.
Cadbury is reaping in the rewards from its decision to relaunch the classic Wispa bar in 2007 while Mars brought its Treets brand out of retirement in July 2009.
Cadbury’s Wispa, which was originally launched in 1981, disappeared off the shelves in early 2000 but a successful internet campaign driven by fans of the brand encouraged the company to relaunch the Eighties favorite back in 2007. The success of this relaunch drove Cadbury to bring back the honeycomb-filled extension to the brand, Wispa Gold, earlier this year on a trial basis.
The company says it expects stocks of Wispa Gold bars to run out by Christmas 2009, by which point it may well consider making the variant a permanent line.
The classic Wispa variant also continues to clock up strong sales. According to Nielsen data, sales of Wispa bars have achieved £35m in the year since its permanent return in October 2008.
Mars also took the decision to bring back an Eighties favorite when it reinstated the chocolate peanut variants of its Treets brand in July 2009, meaning that the brand reappeared on shelves for the first time in 21 years.
Treets, which were originally available in snack box packets in flavors of peanut, toffee and chocolate, disappeared from stores in 1988 in the wake of the UK launch of M&Ms.
The rediscovery of classic sweets brands in the UK is thought, by some, to have been prompted by the recession. This is evident in other food categories whereby retailers have seen an increased demand for comfort food, including traditional English puddings, such as jam roly poly.
