S. Abraham & Sons Wraps Up National Candy Month Campaign

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — S. Abraham & Sons Inc. (SAS) concluded its inaugural launch of National Candy Month and the associated campaign.

Created by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and launched in June 2016, National Candy Month serves as a national awareness movement that celebrates chocolate and candy as summertime treats that encourage emotional well-being.

"Our objective for this campaign was to promote National Candy Month in June by collaborating with our vendor partners to offer incentives for our retailers, engaging contests for SAS sales team, and a framework for retailer activation of this promotion to consumers," said Christa Verrier, category manager — confection, SAS. "Ultimately our goal was to drive sales for SAS, our suppliers and retailers."

Major confection manufacturers such as The Hershey Co., Mars Wrigley, Mondelez International, Ferrero, Ferrara Candy Co. and Albanese supported the campaign by offering special promotions throughout SAS's Monthly Marketing Publication. Each company selected a blockbuster item with a "WOW" promotional detail for retailers that would also be the focus of an internal sales contest.

Kokos' Confection, Awake Chocolate, Just Born, Lindt and Morinaga (Hi-Chew) also participated in offering promotions in the publication, highlighting more than 52 novelty, chocolate, chewy and non-chocolate candy items

SAS sales representatives competed within their sales regions by promoting these blockbuster items throughout National Candy Month. The winning sales region with the highest target goals achieved was awarded prize money to be split among the team.

As a final piece of the campaign, SAS produced point-of-sale kits, which included door and window clings as well as shelf danglers, that were offered at no cost to retailers to complement their in-store merchandising.

The campaign's sales goal was a 10-percent lift across the category. Results showed a 17-percent increase in both dollars and units within the entire confection category during June 2021 vs. the prior year. Results for the eight blockbuster items show a 31-percent increase in dollars and 32-percent increase in units sold during the same period.

"Overall, I'm very pleased with the success of this campaign. SAS is uniquely positioned as a wholesale distributor in the convenience channel to bring together manufacturers and retailers to promote National Candy Month," Verrier said. "We look forward to continuing to bring these innovative opportunities to our retailers in the future."

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.

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