Sales of Smiley branded food and beverages rose by 20% in 2018.
The Smiley Company is continuing to enjoy growth across its foods division, with a packaging refresh planned to hit retail later in 2019.
Sales of Smiley-branded food and beverages rose by 20% in 2018. The company is now looking to build on recent successes, with 23 food and beverage licensees now on board and products regularly launching with leading listings.
“The use of 3D Smileys is very much the cornerstone of our food programme at the moment,” said Lori Heiss-Tiplady, vp brand strategy at The Smiley Company. “We have enjoyed long-term success with the use of our trademarked 3D Smiley shapes in food products for over 20 years, and our focus over the next year will be to sign new partners to build on this success using the multiple expressions which we hold the marks for in this category and introduce new products into the fresh, frozen and ambient categories.”
Smiley Foods partners which have enjoyed success with the trademarked 3D Smiley shape include McCain; Intersnack – which delivered 191 tons of Smiley snacks and crisps last year – Transavia (with listings at Farmfoods); Dr. Oetker (Smiley-shaped pretzels); and Lutti (3D Smiley gummies).
Sales of Smiley branded products without the 3D shape also continue to grow globally. Zaini has sold over a million Smiley chocolate eggs with surprise and is launching a Smiley-branded chocolate spread with surprise into the US and other territories.
Beverage manufacturer L’Abeille is in development on a range of new flavours with lower sugar for its Smiley Fruity juice product for kids; Laita has introduced a drinkable yoghurt; Bomboniera has a new confectionery range in Romania; and Hedef has a selection of waffles in Turkey.
In addition, to complement the evolution of the foods programme, Smiley is set to roll out a new packaging design later this year. It will launch across multiple food categories with leading partners including Intersnack, Dr. Oetker and Laita.
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