Ricola eyes Hainan for growth in non-chocolate confectionery sector

Andreas Reckart: “Hainan is a key market going forward”

Swiss herb confectionery company Ricola has said it plans to focus heavily on the Hainan opportunity as part of its plans for Asia Pacific travel retail, as the offshore duty free sector in the island province soars.

“Even when things got tough last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we kept selling, even at an increasing rate over time as the number of visitors started to grow,” said Ricola Head of Travel Retail Andreas Reckart. “Most strong brands in travel retail believe in Hainan as a key market going forward and we are no exception.”

Ricola reinforced its support for TFWA’s Hainan Special Edition online event (21-24 June) by committing to a Brand Discovery Package. According to Reckart, the move is “a tangible commitment to our belief in the importance of this market.” It aims to build further awareness in Hainan, which offers “long-term growth prospects” for the company.

Ricola’s East Asia distributor first secured listings with China Duty Free Group in 2019. The company said that its portfolio is now established in Hainan and includes its assorted sugar-free tins (200g), Original Herb, Lemon Mint and Cranberry sugar-free tins (75g), sugar-free tin multipacks (3 x 75g) and assorted 125g bag.

Ricola is releasing several travel retail-exclusive products this year including new travel-themed designs for its assorted sugar-free tins (pictured above)

On the prospects for market recovery in 2021, Reckart said: “We had a very good start of the year, but with the increasing COVID-19 restrictions, especially in Europe, customers started taking a wait-and-see approach. Nevertheless, there are a few pockets of activity for us so far this year, and Hainan is one of them. Business is going very well there.

“Right now, we see increasingly positive signs and receive indications from our customers that they are expecting to be back in business in Summer. So, we are quite hopeful to see, at least in Europe, some sort of a Summer travel season, which will help to put travel retail back on the road to recovery.

“In the meantime, we will be increasing our focus on the Asia Pacific market,” Reckart added. “As its own travel recovery begins to gather momentum, we will move forward with our plans to bring new products into the travel retail channel through the rest of 2021.”

To appeal further to the Asia Pacific travel retail market, Ricola is releasing its Original Herb and Lemon Mint flavoured drops in a new channel-exclusive drum-shaped tin. The company is also launching new designs for its assorted sugar-free 200g tins. The new designs feature travel-inspired elements blended with Ricola’s herbal heritage.

The brand is also releasing a limited-edition multipack (75g) featuring its Original Herb, Lemon Mint and Cranberry flavours.

Commenting on the new product innovations, Reckart said: “The sustainable, sugar-free and herbal aspects of our products are important for us and well recognised the world over. Nevertheless, a sizeable market for sugar products remains and we are seizing the opportunity to balance our portfolio and expand the appeal of our confectionery through the introduction of these new Original Herb and Lemon Mint flavour tins.”

Note: The Moodie Davitt Report’s portfolio of titles included Confectionery Curated, published in association with Mondelez. It offers a regular selection of stories focused on the key confectionery category in travel retail and beyond.

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Note: Every fortnight The Moodie Davitt Report publishes Hainan Curated, in association with Foreo, a curated selection of all recent stories from the offshore duty free sector. Click here to subscribe free of charge and to view all back issues.

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