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.

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 said “does good and tastes good. It’s as simple as that."

“I am confident that Nestlé Sustainably Sourced Cocoa can drive incremental sales in the Asia Pacific region,” he adds. “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 TFWA Asia Pacific event, along with Smarties products.

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 flavors, 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 170 g tablets in four flavors including Dark Chocolate, Blueberries, Almonds & Hazelnuts; Milk Chocolate, Cranberries, Almonds & Hazelnuts; Milk Chocolate & Hazelnuts and Milk Chocolate, Raisins, Almonds & Hazelnuts. Four 270 g tablets are available in Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Almonds, and Milk Chocolate with Almonds flavors, while the 50-piece Assorted Chocolate Chunks includes Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts.

KitKat

KitKat Mini Moments Milk & Lotus (195.6 g) 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 Pack.

The eye-catching premium packs contain 6x4 Finger KitKat bars. They target both gifting and Sense of Place with featured destinations including Singapore, Thailand, and 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 (4x34 g), and Smarties Cool Creatures (130 g). Smarties also offers 240 g and 446 g Sharing Bags.

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 labor risks in cocoa production. The program aims to improve the livelihoods of cocoa-farming families and incentivize enrollment of children in school, while advancing regenerative agriculture practices and gender equality. It has impacted the lives of thousands of families.

Nestlé SA is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.