Kinder

One thing that came out of AGM which was of interest.
a question/statement was asked of Bert by a s/h that Yowie chocs which she observed in some stores (in Aust) , were down on lower shelf, or not at checkouts etc.
Whilst Kinder dispalys were in better positions.
From my memory only - Bert mentioned that Kinder had really ramped up their offering in Aust to try and dent Yowie return, that it was UC that was responsible for distribution in Aust and arranging store placement, that it was ultimately up to individual store mgrs. as to where Yowies were placed, and that the bigger stores had general planned layouts for individual products.
He also said that Kinder had very deep pockets (with which to battle Yowies return).

But what stuck in my mind, was that he was not overly concerned with the Kinder competition generally, because Yowie is a different product with a different market appeal.

There is a differentiating aspect of Yowie to Kinder (and I guess other choc offerings)
Yowie has a "franchise" (my term).
Yowie has a franchise in terms of Environmental message, it is genuinely collectible, it has ever-changing/evolving collectibles, and it now has books, and will have the videos and I guess movies maybe?

So it is a different product.
He said he was comfortable that Kinder and Yowie can co-exist !
(not mutually exclusive)

I think as Yowie progresses down the business track, that differentiation will become more evident.

Those books are a great example.
( they would have been great to use in the presentation with Kathy Ireland on TV)

I was concerned at seeing such big Kinder displays in Aust stores, but now I am feeling a bit more comfortable.

cheers

(PS - he also said (again) that Halloween was not big time for Yowie because H was for distributing cheap chocs - yowie too expensive for people to give away multiple chocs. Xmas is a big time for Yowie. He mentioned Easter (cannot recall his comment?)