Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail (MWITR) will introduce new products from its key M&M’s and Maltesers brands at the upcoming IAADFS Summit of the Americas. Intent on building further on its moment-led strategy, MWITR is putting the needs of its travelling consumers at the heart of its thinking. The company is expanding its offer in all key moments which include Enjoy travel time together, Give a Gift, Refresh, Energise, and Indulge on the Go.

MWITR’s focus at the IAADFS event is to share its strategy with retailers to bring those moments to execution on the shop floor, exciting and engaging travelers with the right offer at every relevant touchpoint in the store. 

The MWITR team will also outline the Transaction Zone which focuses on its efforts to convert more travelers into shoppers at the point of purchase and convert this relatively untapped opportunity.

“At MWITR we are committed to responding effectively to the evolving needs of travelers, ensuring that our products align seamlessly with their expectations and demands," says Marcus Hudson, Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail sales director. "Through these strategic initiatives, we are poised to strengthen our position and capture new opportunities in the dynamic Americas market.”

Hudson notes MWITR’s significant double-digit growth in the Americas. “Our growth strategy for the Americas involves a focused effort to accelerate our presence by enhancing our portfolio, tailoring our offer to fit the travelers' needs and preferences. For the US market, our focus is to leverage sense of place in line with retailer’s strategies on gifting, while in in Latin America in particular, we are targeting Gifting and the expansion of our total offering,” he says.

M&M’s will lead the refreshed offer for the U.S. market with the launch of MyM&M’s. This unique gifting concept features M&M’s lentils exclusively printed for the North American market. The new product has been successfully tested in airports in Chicago, Las Vegas, Newark, and Boston as a rotating week-on-week item and will be rolled out to further locations, supported by tailored in-store promotional materials.

“We believe this product is ideal for the U.S. market,” Hudson explains. “It’s not only fun and an extra gift great for the customer, it also adds value to the retailer and the total confectionery category in general with its sense of place fit.” 

According to MWITR, gifting continues to account for over 30% of sales in confectionery. For the Latin American market, MWITR’s focus is on that gifting moment with two products: Global Traveller Passports from M&M’s and another key brand, Maltesers, with gift boxes containing six to eight single bags personalized with a "To:From" label. 

For the same market, M&M’S is also targeting a "bring fun" moment with M&M’s Crispy & Peanut lines while M&M Minis are ideal for sharing and an ‘enjoy time together’ moment. Mini in size and big on fun, the 310 g pack contains milk chocolate lentils with an extra crunchy crust in different colors. 

The MWITR team members will also share details of the Transaction Zone, a key strategic pillar for the company globally and already being successfully rolled out in Europe. The new branded queue-system and manned zones offer an optimized cross-category portfolio that aims to better fulfil traveler needs.

Hudson noted that around 500 million travelers buy products in travel retail every year. “This means there are 500 million opportunities to drive incremental purchases at the checkout areas,” he says. “By sharing our knowledge on optimizing the transaction zone with our partners in the Americas, we can help them bring these solutions to life in airports and other travel retail-related locations.”

MWITR will be represented at this year’s IAADFS Summit of the Americas on the stand of its U.S. distributor, Otis McAllister (Booth 201), with whom the company has enjoyed a successful long-standing partnership for many years, as well as by Lymarie Prudencio, the customer development leader for MWITR for the Americas.