This month, we’ve been speaking to Sue Ruse, shop manager for Mulberry’s in Hove, to find out how the store is finding stocking fine food and in particular, our confectionery products.

 

Although a couple of the Mulberry convenience stores have stocked fine food for a while, it is an area which they have recently expanded and have plans to further develop.

 

“We stock a wide range of products within the store, but it is clear that snacking and confectionery are our bestselling categories”, says Sue.

 

“Within confectionery, our top selling fine food product of last month was Monty’s Taste Adventure Selection Box from Monty Bojangles.  Although as this is still a growing sector for our store, it will be really interesting to see what happens as we venture into stocking more and more fine food.  There certainly seems to be demand for local and specialist confectionery products, so I think this market at least will continue to expand.

 

Like the wider food market, Sue has also seen an increase in demand for vegan and vegetarian products within the confectionery category. Similarly, she has noticed gluten-free and dairy-free products becoming more popular as consumers become increasingly health conscious.

 

Sophie Ballard, buyer and marketing team member for Hartley’s and Mulberry’s convenience stores in Brighton and Hove, says: “We have recently expanded Cotswold Fayre products into Hartley’s, our off-license side of the business, which seems to be going very well so far! We’ve chosen stores with consumers who are looking to purchase beyond the everyday supermarket brands and instead try more specialist products of a higher quality. We plan to continue expanding this side of the business and are excited to see where it takes us!”

 

As a confectionery distributor, we have an extensive range of the finest quality confectionery products including chocolate, sweets, liquorice, fudge, honeycomb treats and more! You can view the full range here.