TICKET TO RIDE

AMITY K. MOORE

Partnerships between manufacturers and entertainment giants -- from sports figures to film companies -- are giving supermarket retailers a license to drive candy sales.

Licensed confectionery products boost a retailer's total candy sales and unit volume, according to candy buyers SN polled. One retailer revealed that his total unit movement jumped as much as 30% due to licensed candy sales.

"If you have a product that is tied in to something big, like a movie hit, then you're going to come out on top. Your grocery stores are really going to profit from it," said Lynett McCoy, candy buyer at Coppell, Texas-based Minyard Food Stores.

Profit margins on licensed candy products range from 35% to 40%, said Tom Warner, executive vice president of Creative Confection Concepts, Milwaukee.

Retailers reported that they benefited from an increase in store traffic, particularly when merchandising licensed candy as part of a promotional event.

For example, several retailers SN polled were building programs around "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," the sequel to the blockbuster hit "Jurassic Park."

Dominick's Finer Foods, Northlake, Ill., created an endcap in one of its stores outside Chicago, SN found during an in-store visit. The display included the new Jurassic Crunch cereal from General Mills, and "Lost World"-themed brownie mix from Betty Crocker and candy from Hershey Foods USA, Hershey, Pa.

A separate display on the side of another endcap featured additional themed licensed products. Hershey officials were unavailable for comment.

"[Licensed products] are even a benefit to retailers because they get to take further advantage of the impulse items that carry a heightened consumer awareness resulting from the movie promotions," said Curtis Claypool, grocery buyer at Kash n' Karry Food Stores, Tampa, Fla.

"Licensing benefits the retailer because when a company like Disney puts their enormous marketing muscle behind the product, it creates instant brand awareness. The retailer doesn't have to do any of that," added George Matics, assistant director of purchasing and merchandising at K.V. Mart.

How do retailers or manufacturers know which tie-ins are going to be winners? They don't. It's a gamble, although classic, traditional figures, cartoons and films are a better bet than recent releases.

"A lot of retailers told us they felt better about tying in with properties that were universal and would stand the test of time, like a Disney, Warner Bros. or Nickelodeon," said Gary Schuetz, vice president of marketing at Amurol Confections Co., Yorkville, Ill.

Retailers put displays in visible areas to encourage quick impulse sales, since children have a short attention span.

Shippers are the preferred merchandising vehicle for individual chocolate bars, as they are easy to maneuver and take up little floorspace.

Warner of Creative Confection suggests putting licensed candy in the standard gondola, "but in an identified area by itself so shoppers can see it," he added.

Warner is working with grocery retailers like Vons, Stater Bros., Ralphs, ShopRite, Smith's Food & Drug Centers, H.E. Butt Grocery Co. and Omni, to place a Warner Bros. licensed candy section in-store.

Minyard's McCoy noted that she has seen strong sales results on products from Nestle Food Co., Glendale, Calif., which has a strong partnership with Disney. "We've been seeing a lot of licensing in the chocolate molded bars," she said.

Nestle just created a kids' department, which is debuting its first product, Magic, at the end of the summer. Magic is a chocolate novelty currently tied to four different Disney movies.

Planned to sell at a suggested retail of 99 cents to $1.29, Magic contains a plastic character from a Disney movie inside a plastic ball. The ball is encased in 1 ounce of chocolate, which is covered in metallic foil. The entire product is sold in a colorful cardboard collector's box. Children can collect 24 characters from the movies "Aladdin," "101 Dalmatians," "The Lion King" and the upcoming "Hercules."