Despite persistent high temperatures, summer is officially over, which means the festive season is also drawing ever closer. Spanish company Sanllo is capitalising on this by offering jute Sinterklaas (5th December) bags with clementines for the Belgian and Dutch markets. "We see supermarkets focusing more and more on themes. If there are a lot of items per theme, consumers also gravitate towards these. Sinterklaas is then surely the theme of choice for Benelux in December," says Sharon Veroone of Sanllo.
"It gave us the idea to offer our sweet, smaller-sized Clemenules in the distinctive jute Sinterklaas bags," Sharon continues. "Normally, the festive period is an affair with lots of sweets, but by using these packages, there is a healthy alternative, which is also recognisable for the children."
Sharon describes it as a puzzle falling together. "We started marketing our Clemenules this week, which is certainly the best variety of clementines this year. Of course, this coincides perfectly with the start of the run-up to the festive season. Next week we expect to have the first ones in the shops, after which sales will pick up by St Martin's (11 November). Then, of course, we will go full steam ahead from the end of November."
The company offers the Sinterklaas bags in small size of 1.5 kilos. "They contain about 10 pieces and give a nice image to the theme of Sinterklaas. We find that this is catching on well, as the boxes with several bags are quickly being purchased. Moreover, the bags are ideal for reuse. They are sturdy jute bags that can also be used to store toys or other products. This also makes it sustainable; something we, as a company, increasingly want to capitalise on. Many similar promotions often contain plastic anyway, but the bags are completely plastic-free and, in my opinion, nicer."
This is an idea that will not just be limited to the period around Sinterklaas, as Sanllo already has several plans in the pipeline. "For instance, the label is customisable according to the customer's wishes. This means that the red shades will further fit ideally with a Christmas theme, for example. In France, we are doing a parallel sale of the packaging in a Christmas theme. For the Dutch and Belgian markets, we will also move on to Father Christmas after Sinterklaas. In the future, we will also focus on other themes like Valentine's Day. We see that this is an appealing packaging and a nice way to draw attention to a good product."
For more information:
Sharon Veroone 
Sanllo
Tel: +34 673 206 269
sharon@sanlloexport.com
www.sanlloexport.com