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From the resurgence of the traditional ‘penny sweet’ flavours to the time-honoured pink and white candy stripe packaging of bygone days, sweets which take customers back to the simpler times of their childhood are big business. Don’t expect customers to be fooled, however, by cheap, mass-produced brands attempting to cash in on this trend for nostalgia; what they are really looking for is the authentic quality of the sweets they remember from their childhood. Those in wholesale confectionery who are doing this effectively are those who understand that quality is part of the appeal for these nostalgic brands. Packaging From the Past Remember when sweets came in paper bags or tins lined with paper? These are some of the traditional elements that wholesale confectionery brands are reintroducing to sell their products. But more than just tugging at the heart-strings, this nostalgic packaging rightly places an emphasis on the importance of attracting a customer visually as well as by taste. Companies like Hope and Greenwood and Monty Bojangles pride themselves on creating packaging that is so attractive that it becomes part of the brand story. Hope and Greenwood uses fifties-style popcorn bags to package up its traditional clotted cream fudge. It also uses the words ‘purveyors of splendid goods’ on its packaging to emphasise not just the attractiveness of the packaging but the quality of the confectionery inside. For wholesale confectionery brand Monty Bojangles, the packaging tells a story to its customers. It features the brand cat (Monty) in top hat and tails, travelling the world in vintage vehicles – such as the zeppelin of the Flutter Scotch Curious Truffles – experiencing ‘adventures in taste’. For a brand like Amatller, which has been producing quality confectionery since 1797, history and heritage is naturally part of the brand. To emphasise this, Amatller uses reproductions of the boxes and wrappers they used in the nineteenth century to package its products today. Flavours of Childhood Of course, packaging will count for nothing if the product inside does not delight. Many wholesale confectionery brands are returning to flavours of the past to appeal to the taste for nostalgia. For Montezuma, creating nostalgic flavours is something of a speciality. Its beautifully packaged truffle box cleverly transports us back to the Sunday lunches of our childhood with flavours including Spotted Dick, Apple Crumble and Eton Mess. Celebrating the Great British pudding, the truffle box is decorated in red, white and blue, drawing on a flag-waving patriotism belonging to the past. In fact, these pudding flavours have proved so popular that Montezuma also sell them as individual ‘pudding bars’. There was no greater feeling as a kid than saving your pocket money for your favourite sweet or being given a treat on a family visit. It is this ‘special’ feeling that these brands have managed to capture with their retro packaging and vintage flavours. Your customers’ ability to pop a sweet or chocolate in to their mouth and, for a moment at least, be transported back to a simpler, rose-tinted time is certainly worth the cost of a confection. Author Plate Angelina Moufftard works for hf Chocolates, established wholesale confectionery suppliers with decades of experience supplying luxury chocolates and sweets to retailers across the UK. Their impressive range, which combines cutting-edge confections and time-honoured, nostalgic treats, caters to all tastes.
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