Nestlé ITR targets further growth in Asia Pacific, leading with sustainability mission
At Changi Airport the brand features its new travel retail exclusive line Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa - Does Good*. Tastes Great.
Nestlé Travel Retail International (NITR) heads to this month’s TFWA Asia Pacific Conference & Exhibition armed with new products and a strong story and strategy to share.
At the center of the company’s focus are products within its VERSE (Value, Engagement, Regeneration, Sense of Place and Execution) model, including new travel retail exclusive lines led by Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa - Does Good*. Tastes Great.
Nestlé Travel Retail International General Manager, Stewart Dryburgh, says, “Asia Pacific is a key market for Nestlé. Our products are well known, and we enjoy strong collaborations with leading retailers within travel retail. That said, there is always room for further growth. Our focus on innovation and forward-thinking gives us the opportunity to not only improve our standing in this diverse region but also to extend the overall food and confectionery basket within the channel.
“TFWA Asia Pacific has established itself as a key event on the travel industry calendar and this year I believe it will provide a stage for growth and development plans unlike any the industry has seen in the past.
“We have a new and very exciting product to feature at the exhibition for the first time. Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa was officially launched last month and is already available in selected travel retail locations. The range is exclusive to the channel and as the name suggests, its focus is on sustainability. These two factors – exclusivity and sustainability – will set NITR, the confectionery category, and industry in general, apart in the future.”
Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa showcases Nestlé’s work over the past 15 years in major cocoa growing regions via the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. It combines those efforts with almost 150 years of Swiss chocolate making expertise in a product, which as Dryburgh notes “does good and tastes good. It’s as simple as that.”
He adds, “I am confident that Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa can drive incremental sales in the Asia Pacific region. It is tailor made to suit the demands of the increasingly important Gen Z travelers who are seeking something different, something that lives up to its name. At the same time, it appeals to all chocolate lovers.”
NITR’s key KITKAT® offer, including KITKAT® Senses Cookie Dough, KITKAT® Senses Lotus & Milk and KITKAT® Destination Packs, will also be featured at the event, along with innovative SMARTIES® products and the latest additions to the company’s increasingly important coffee line-up.
Dryburgh points out that sales of coffee in the Asia region have grown dramatically – over 300% – during the past 12 months, buoyed by a strong and increasing demand in China. “NITR is fortunate to be in the position to meet this substantial demand as we have known and trusted brands and a range to suit every market segment.”
NESCAFÉ® Gold and Original will be featured, along with NESCAFÉ® Gold Roastery – a batch roasted coffee which offers unrivalled tastes in an instant, in Light Roast and Dark Roast blends. Premium barista-inspired instant coffee NESCAFÉ® AZERA®: Americano, Americano Decaff and Americano Intense are also proving popular on the Asian market.
Dryburgh cites research from APAC Travel Retail Market – Companies & Trends (mordorintelligence.com), which indicates that travel retail in Asia is expected to show significant growth this year to reach an estimated US$90,11 billion by 2029.
“NITR is ready for that growth trend,” he says. “We have the products to match consumer demands and the willingness and ability to support our partners. The Asia Pacific region is fascinating because of its diversity. Regional markets need to be identified and targeted with suitable products to enhance Sense of Place and the growing trend towards experiences within travel and travel retail.
“We look forward to continued growth in Asia Pacific and the TFWA event is the perfect place to share our brands, theirs and our stories and sustainability credentials, and to underline our aim to make food the #1 most purchased category in travel retail.”
Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa - Does Good*. Tastes Great
This new premium travel retail-exclusive product has strong sustainability credentials through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. It features creamy smooth chocolate in a variety of flavours, crafted with care to support the education of over 156,00 children through Nestlé’s collaboration with Rain Forest Alliance.
The Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa range includes 170g tablets in 4 flavors including Dark Chocolate, Blueberries, Almonds & Hazelnuts; Milk chocolate, Cranberries, Almonds & Hazelnuts; Milk chocolate & Hazelnuts and Milk Chocolate, Raisins, Almonds & Hazelnuts. Four 270g tablets are available in Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Milk Chocolate with Almonds flavors while a 50-piece Assorted Chocolate Chunks includes Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts.
KITKAT®
KITKAT® Mini Moments Milk & Lotus (195.6g) is new to Asia Pacific and already proving a popular line with Gen Z travelers, along with the KITKAT® Senses Cookie Dough and KITKAT® Destination Gift Packs.
The premium packs contain 6x4 Finger KITKAT® bars. They target both gifting and Sense of Place with featured destinations including Singapore, Thailand, Dubaiand India’s Mumbai.
SMARTIES®
SMARTIES® is another brand with strong sustainability credentials as the world’s first global confectionery brand to switch to recyclable paper packaging across its entire portfolio. Travel retail exclusive products are key to its performance within the channel.
Its ‘Learn Through Play’ concept features in six lines: SMARTIES® Topper Cards, SMARTIES® Topper Dice, SMARTIES® Music Creator (38g), SMARTIES® Activity Tin and (4x34g) and SMARTIES® Cool Creatures (130g). SMARTIES® also offers 240g and 446g Sharing Bags.
NESCAFÉ® Gold and Original will also be featured, along with NESCAFÉ® Gold Roastery – a batch roasted coffee which offers unrivalled in an instant in Light Roast and Dark Roast blends – and premium barista-inspired instant coffee NESCAFÉ® AZERA®: Americano, Americano Decaff and Americano Intense.
“We are determined to show that NITR is living up to its aim to make food the #1 most purchased category in travel retail,” Dryburgh says.
NITR’s ‘Together We Grow’ platform, which aims to help retail partners accelerate sustainable programs, will be a key part of NITR’s presentation in Singapore. The platform falls under the Regeneration pillar of NITR’s VERSE model and is exclusive to travel retail.
According to Dryburgh, ‘Together We Grow’ supports retail partners’ sustainability objectives, while communicating the significant environmental impact that Nestlé has made through its packaging projects, the Cocoa Plan and Coffee Plan responsible sourcing initiatives over the last 15 years.
The Nestlé Cocoa Plan was launched in 2009. It has engaged more than 150,000 cocoa-farming families so far, building on three pillars: better farming, aiming to improve livelihoods in communities; better lives, aiming to improve social conditions for families and better cocoa, aiming to improve product sustainability.
The concept also incorporates Nestlé’s Income Accelerator Programme for selected KITKAT products which builds on the company’s longstanding efforts to tackle child labour risks in cocoa production. The program aims to improve the livelihoods of cocoa-farming families and incentivise enrolment of children in school, while advancing regenerative agriculture practices and gender equality. It has impacted the lives of thousands of families.
