Fraas tells travel retailers to wrap up warm

Fraas is capitalising on the fashion trend for scarves with its diverse men’s, women’s and unisex collections.

Based in Germany, the family-run company has been in the textile industry for more than 135 years and is one of the most internationally successful manufacturers and suppliers of scarves and textile accessories.

Fraas makes 10m scarves a year

Traditional and sustainable methods

Speaking to MJ Rabbit during the TFWA World Exhibition, Andreas Schmidt, the owner and managing director of Fraas, said the company’s priority is quality and craftsmanship. Let’s take as an example the unisex cashmere scarf currently listed in British Airways’ inflight catalogue. Made in Germany from the finest yarn, the lightweight, 100% cashmere scarf has a modern yet classical design in a grey unisex colourway.

Fraas makes 10m scarves each year. Today, traditional methods are still used, passed down from the label’s founders – one of whom, Valentin Fraas, is Andreas’s great-great-grandfather. The company’s looms are in Wüstenselbitz in northern Bavaria, where special wells supply the water for the finishing process. Fraas boasts sustainability, too: nearly 70% of the yarns it uses are spun and dyed locally. Fraas uses the bristles of the weaver’s thistle to comb cashmere until it’s soft. This prickly plant gives cashmere its gloss through gentle strokes of its hooked bristles.

Over the past two years, the company has been strategically targeting travel retail with strong initial results, namely nine shop-in-shops at China Duty Free Group (20 planned); five shop-in-shops with China National Service; a shop-in-shop at Nuremberg Airport; a pop-up shop at Munich Airport confirmed for 2018; a planned pop-up shop at Düsseldorf Airport; a planned pop-up shop at Johannesburg Airport; a shop-in-shop at Riga Airport (private terminal); and a successful business relationship with BC Ferries in Canada.

The perfect gift

During the TFWA World Exhibition, Fraas unveiled a number of products:

The Perfect Gift: Under the slogan “the most beautiful presents come from the heart”, the gift collection of scarves, hats and gloves comes in attractive packaging, retailing from €69 to €199.

My Travel Companion: This range of oversized scarves and ponchos – very on-trend on today’s fashion catwalks – are designed to be the perfect travel companion as they fit in all carry-on baggage and keep the wearer warm and comfortable while travelling. The collection also includes regular sized scarves and retails from €29 to €399.

In addition, the Fraas Signature Collection is exclusively manufactured in Germany and Italy using the firm’s expertise. In this new capsule collection (retail price: €69-399), the best of 135 years of scarf manufacturing is combined with the ambitions of a leader in the world market, Schmidt said.

Master perfumer Roja Dove targets travel retail

Roja Parfums – dubbed the finest fragrances in the world – are set to board the world’s leading airlines. Master perfumer Roja Dove has signed a deal with Scorpio Worldwide to act as the company’s the inflight agent.

Dove is renowned for working with the world’s finest quality ingredients, without compromise or regard to cost, including ambergris, which is worth approximately seven times the price of gold. Each ingredient is hand-selected for its rarity, suitability and odour.

Roja Parfums' Elysium Parfum Cologne 

“We are delighted to be working with such a well-known, established fragrance company such as Roja Parfums,” said Stuart McGuire, Scorpio Worldwide’s CEO. “Ensuring that we offer our customers the best, most innovative products on the market is vital to ensure Scorpio is at the top of its game in what is a very competitive channel. Our customers are looking for brands that excite and offer something different to travellers, Roja does both of these things and we are looking forward to a fruitful, successful partnership.”

Dove added: “Roja Parfums is currently available from 180 retail points in 42 countries. We are immensely proud of our selective distribution, only partnerships with the best. We are thrilled to partner with Scorpio Worldwide – the leaders of global travel retail – to bring Roja Parfums to more people around the world.”

The two Roja Parfums being introduced to travel retail are:

51 Eau de Parfum: This fragrance is inspired by 51 Burlington Arcade, the destination of London’s first Roja Parfums boutique. A rich and sensual bouquet of lily of the valley, rose, gardenia, orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose, lily and ylang ylang is given an unusual twist with a touch of raspberry, counterpointed by citrus bergamot and violet leaves. Enlivened by aniseed, cinnamon and clove, the warm, soft base consists of casmir and sandal woods, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla and powdery orris.

Elysium Parfum Cologne: An ultra-fresh citrus blend of lemon, bergamot, grapefruit and lime is freshened further by lavender, thyme, artemisia, an unusual top note of musk, and leafy galbanum, with an unexpected sweet harmony of lily of the alley, rose and jasmine, made fruity by apple and blackcurrant. Warmed by pink pepper, cypriol, vetiver, cedarwood and juniper berry, the soft base of benzoin and vanilla is made sensual with leather-like labdanum, ambergris and musk.

Stoli celebrates 80th milestone with exclusive vodka

Stoli Group is launching a limited-edition vodka to celebrate its 80th anniversary. Launched at the recent TFWA World Exhibition, Stolichnaya 80th Anniversary vodka brings together three ingredients – wheat, rye and buckwheat – to create a vodka that combines notes of spicy aniseed, vanilla and crème caramel with a delicate texture, a rich sweetness and a light, dry finish.

Stolichnaya 80th Anniversary vodka

A major innovation

Describing the global launch, Stoli CEO Hugues Pietrini said: “To celebrate our 80th anniversary we set ourselves a challenge: could we create a limited-edition vodka that combines this unsurpassed smoothness with a little of the character of a 1938 vodka? After countless distillations, we arrived at a winning liquid and a major innovation: Stolichnaya 80th Anniversary, a vodka made from wheat, rye and buckwheat.”

The wheat is said to deliver purity and drinkability, rye adds taste and character, and buckwheat adds creamy smoothness to the final spirit. The vodka can be enjoyed mixed long, in any vodka cocktail, or in chilled shots.

Stolichnaya 80th Anniversary vodka is being released in limited quantities and is destined to become a collector’s item, the company said. It is presented with a distinctive bottle closure, a two-part front label printed on specially prepared craft paper and an exclusive presentation box

Speaking about the travel retail sector, Pietrini said: “Travellers are continuing to treat airport shopping as an opportunity to trade up and to try something new and unique. Travel retail is the perfect environment for limited editions such as Stolichnaya 80th Anniversary vodka and TFWA World Exhibition the perfect platform to showcase this highly original collector’s item.”

Cenote Reposado tequila

New, younger consumers

In other exciting news, Stoli Group USA has added super-premium Cenote Tequila to its portfolio. Stoli Group is handling all distribution, sales and marketing for the brand. 

Cenote Tequila will be introduced in the first quarter of 2018. Initially the line will comprise Blanco, Reposado and Añejo expressions. Cenote takes its name from the spectacular limestone cenotes (pits) that are scattered through Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which were considered by the Mayans to be “windows to the underworlds”, inhabited by gods and goddesses. It is produced at Fabrica de Tequilos Finos, located at the foot of Tequila Hill, in Jalisco, under the supervision of master distiller Arturo Fuentes. 

Cenote Tequila is crafted using 100% blue agave. Cenote Tequila Blanco mellows for three weeks before bottling, while the Añejo expression is aged in single-use American oak bourbon barrels, and the Reposado is aged in French oak casks.

Said Pietrini: “We see great potential for super-premium tequila – a category that has grown considerably within travel retail in recent years, as new and younger consumers have discovered and converted to sip-grade tequila. We are confident that Cenote Tequila will be an exciting new addition to our portfolio.” 

Nestlé steps up confectionery innovation

The confectionery category is always a good place to find innovative travel exclusive products – and never more so than at the Swiss giant Nestlé.

This year at the TFWA World Exhibition, Nestlé International Travel Retail (NITR) announced its intention to put SOUL back into the mix. S stands for brand stories; O for occasions; U for unique, personalised and customised products; and L for local, here-and-now experiences.

The aim is to target both the millennial demographic – which the company believes accounts for half of shoppers in travel retail – and the emerging middle classes. These customers are looking for meaningful brand experiences and stories, according to Stewart Dryburgh, NITR’s General Manager. With its new SOUL strategy, NITR wants to bring the human element into shopping at airports, where travellers are often under stress or distracted by their digital devices.

Travel retail exclusive Nestle Swiss chocolate with new, embossed packaging

Eye-catching KitKat display with Dufry

Among the company’s many product launches are KitKat Senses bars in the new flavours of double chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, and a mobile camera lens kit gwp featuring a destination-specific cityscape image. To promote this iconic British brand, an eye-catching KitKat double-decker bus display has been installed with travel retailer Dufry in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Bangkok airports, as well as at the Haitang Bay resort in Sanya, China.

And for immediate consumption at an accessible price point, NITR is combining a bottle of Vittel water with a KitKat bar, encouraging travellers to take a break.

2018 is an important year for the travel-exclusive Nestlé Swiss chocolate brand, which boasts a fresh visual identity reinforcing its Swiss Alps heritage and a sense of discovery and adventure based on the French “trouvaille” (meaning “find”) concept. NITR is forecasting $2m in retail sales from this brand in two years.

For Smarties, NITR is seeking to create colourful stories as well as stimulate a child’s development with its new CreatorBook games.

Commenting on these 2018 initiatives, Dryburgh said: “Continuing our focus on insight-based innovation has created an outstanding range which will really drive category growth. Our added-value propositions across KitKat, Smarties and Nestlé Swiss deliver more than just enjoyable taste; they provide a unique factor, exclusivity, engaging experiences, digital presence and relatable storytelling to meet our targeted consumer expectations.”

Nutella spreads the word in major airport relaunch

Italian confectionery group Ferrero is set to relaunch its hazelnut chocolate spread Nutella in travel retail with a new, premium approach to the branding.

In the domestic market, Nutella is a much-loved commodity, bought by some 115m households every year in 160 countries. This chocolate spread phenomenon has become a daily breakfast ritual in countries such as Italy and Germany and boasts 32m Facebook friends. During its 50th anniversary in 2014, more than 76,000 shared stories from devoted fans were posted on Nutella’s website. 

Nutella I Love You gift box

Social media activations

Now, Ferrero has decided to move the brand upmarket in travel retail stores, giving it a more sophisticated look and feel under the banner “Hello World”. The relatively sophisticated offer – exclusive to airports – includes Say It With Nutella gift boxes with customised For You and I Love You labels. These labels build on the popularity of a domestic market initiative that has shifted some 100m customised jar labels.

The travel retail exclusive product range also boasts a tin box presentation, the Nutella Ultimate kit (180g), containing a spreader and a napkin for people on the go. The cutest item is the Big Jar packed with 21 miniature 30g pots.

Ferrero Travel Market Marketing Manager Davide Barresi is confident of the success of this premiumisation strategy. “We held a focus group and 74% of people said they would visit a [travel retail] store and buy Nutella. The merchandising units are designed to scream Nutella. We want to establish Nutella as its own category.”

The Hello World campaign will also have a social media element. Thanks to geo-targeting, brand lovers will be able to receive a message in their activated Facebook profile when they are at the airport and see the exclusive products available in-store.

The official relaunch will take place globally from February 2018, and Barresi promises a “very, very big rollout”.