Hershey to showcase insights at Sweets & Snacks

May 23, 2023

The Hershey Company will showcase its leadership in retail and human insights alongside its growing sweet and salty portfolio during the National Confectioners Association’s 2023 Sweets & Snacks Expo, running from 23-25 May in Chicago, Illinois.

Visitors to the company’s booth will be able to sample products from various brands, including Reese’s, Hershey’s, KIT KAT, Ice Breakers, Jolly Rancher, Lily’s Sweets and more. This lineup includes new products such as Honest Organic Gummies, limited-edition KIT KAT Churro and protein-packed ONE Puffs.

“While consumers are shopping on tighter budgets, candy and snacks remain an affordable way to fulfill emotional wellness and create connections with family and friends,” explained Marlene Creighton, Chief Sales Officer, The Hershey Company. “Hershey continues to broaden its portfolio across chocolate, sweets, salty and protein snacks to meet consumers for more occasions. Together, with our retail partners, we are accelerating shared growth through leading category insights, strategies and execution to improve shopper experience.”

Post pandemic, how consumers shop has evolved. Hershey’s insights reflect that more shoppers now favour self-checkout over assisted checkout and that almost half of grocery shoppers make purchases both online and in-store. As a result, it’s more important than ever to understand this journey and consider how the two environments connect to capture unplanned purchases both in-store and online.

Company insights show that maximising unplanned front-end purchases is critical for retailers as most shoppers still complete purchases in-store.

Although trends reflect that more are opting to use self-checkout, in some stores more often than assisted lanes, this paypoint is more susceptible to conversion loss if there is no merchandising leading into and around the self-checkout. Adding queuing and merchandising around self-checkouts will drive more units than assisted lanes.

Capturing unplanned purchases during an online shopping experience can be challenging for retailers when consumers primarily find products through a site’s search function. Hershey is helping retailers to solve this issue and drive growth through unplanned purchases online by utilising homepage placement, cross-merchandising and post-checkout reminders.

While nearly two-thirds of Americans are looking for better-for-you (BFY) options, BFY candy is underdeveloped compared to peer categories. Hershey is meeting this need by continuing to expand its BFY offerings.

New snacks featured at the company’s Sweets & Snacks booth include Honest Organic Gummies, which are made with organic fruit juice and natural flavours, Lily’s Watermelon Slices and Lily’s Peach Rings, Hershey’s Plant Based Extra Creamy with Almonds and Sea Salt and Reese’s Plant Based Peanut Butter Cups.

As more consumers look to add protein to their diet as well, Hershey brand ONE, known for its protein bars, will unveil plans for protein-packed ONE Puffs in cheddar and spicy nacho flavors, and FULFIL will launch its newest flavour, Triple Chocolate.

For a deeper dive into how it developed a focused BFY strategy, Hershey’s BFY Marketing Director Nathan Johnson will present ‘Trends in Better-for-You Candy’ on Wednesday, 24 May, at 2 pm (CDT) at the Insights Stage in the West Hall at Sweets & Snacks Expo.

In addition to retail and better-for-you, Hershey is continuing to grow its impact in salty snacking. Kristen Riggs, President, Salty Snacks will share her thoughts on leading transformation and change in a time of rapid growth at the Sweets & Snacks Expo’s Women’s Leadership Group Breakfast on Wednesday, 24 May, at 7:30 am.

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