S. Abraham & Sons Celebrates Second National Candy Month Campaign

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — S. Abraham & Sons Inc. (SAS) concluded its second successful year of celebrating National Candy Month in June. The monthlong event, launched by the National Confectioners Association, bridges the gap between seasonal holiday candy sales and the sweet treats consumers love.

"Seeing the growth of this program for a second year encourages us to continue to invest in innovative promotions," said Alyssa Snyr, category manager — confection and snacks, SAS. "Candy is one of the most important categories in the convenience channel and SAS is fully committed to offering innovation not only in the products we offer, but the way we advertise and promote it. We are already exploring how we can grow the excitement again next year!"

To boost sales in June, SAS launched an innovative internal sales contest that resulted in a 13.5 percent increase across the entire confection category over the previous year's successful campaign. This year, the company added a bonus sales competition through which sales representatives set stores with SAS' published National Candy Month Planogram, which included 28 total confection items that were either on deal for the month or recently launched into distribution.

Representatives sent images in for a chance to win one of seven $1,000 prizes available. This resulted in 145 stores dedicating an endcap space for National Candy Month.

Many stores also uniquely promoted the program with video boards, props or markdowns to execute the promotion at consumer level. This led to a total 7.5 percent unit growth over the 2021 campaign, with the items included in the planogram seeing unit growth as high as 68 percent.

Additionally, with vendor support, SAS promoted 10 full pages of deals on 80 confection items in its June Monthly Marketing Publication, including free point-of-sale kits with window clings and shelf danglers calling out National Candy Month to drive home the promotion at retail stores.

"It has always been a challenge in convenience stores to find a space for new item introductions. This contest encouraged our sales team to think out of the box, re-merchandise sections, and create a space for new items to be placed,"  said George Abdoo, vice president — sales, SAS. "The program was a big success and will lead to increased impulse sales and profits for our retail partners."

In 2021, the campaign's sales goal was a 10 percent lift across the category. Results showed a 17 percent increase in both dollars and units across the entire confection category, as Convenience Store News reported.

A subsidiary of Imperial Trading Co., Grand Rapids-based SAS is a grocery distributor servicing convenience, grocery, drug, campus retail, and small-format stores in eight Midwest states. 

The company provides marketing, distribution, and technology solutions to convenience retailers. Its service area stretches from the border between the United States and Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and it services more than 5,000 retail locations. 

Headquartered in Elmwood, La., Imperial Trading has six distribution centers serving 17 states.