2025 Category Excellence in New Product Launch: Circle K & Mars Wrigley
The launch of Snickers Pecan at Circle K showcased the power of strategic partnership in achieving exceptional results. Together, Circle K and the Snickers team worked seamlessly to ensure the chocolate bar innovation reached the retailer's stores efficiently and effectively, meeting consumer demand and exceeding performance expectations.
Circle K Senior Category Managers Mike Keller and Gretchen Monroe ensured that Snickers Pecan was properly set up in the retailer's systems and that distribution was expedited to stores, enabling a rapid rollout across locations. By leveraging insights from a key retailer report, they were able to identify gaps in distribution and took proactive steps to address these opportunities, ensuring the product reached stores promptly and maximizing sales potential.
For Mars Wrigley's part, timely production and distribution of Snickers Pecan were critical to meet Circle K's aggressive rollout schedule, achieving 80% ACV in just two weeks and 92% ACV to date. The supplier collaborated closely with Circle K to monitor sales performance, provide detailed analytics and adjust strategies to drive continued growth.
This launch has driven high incremental sales and contributed significantly to category growth. Circle K accounts for 10% of total U.S. convenience Snickers Pecan share size sales, and Snickers incremental candy sales increased by 32% with unit sales up 37% since the launch.
Click here for the full winners' list for the 2025 Convenience Store News Category Excellence Awards.