Blackwood firm to bring Comic Relief sweets to public (From Campaign Series)

Blackwood firm to bring Comic Relief sweets to public

7:10am Thursday 31st January 2013 in Campaign news

A BLACKWOOD-based company will play a leading role in this year’s Comic Relief fundraising drive, supplying 70,000 candy dispensers around the UK.

Bon Bon Buddies is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of character and branded confectionary and after working with Disney, Warner Bros, Mattel and Hasbro, it has now teamed up with one of the country’s top charity events.

It has created three types of PEZ candy dispensers, which feature Comic Relief dinosaur characters Dinomite, Triceytops and T-Spex.

These are now in outlets of retailers such as Sainsbury’s, B&M Bargains and Top Shop and hope to raise funds by cashing in on the Austrian candy phenomenon, PEZ, which feature character faces on packaging.

Red Nose Day is on March 15 and Bon Bon Buddies’ managing director Chris Howarth said the massive success of PEZ in the UK means the dispensers should raise lots of money.

He said: "We have been successfully distributing PEZ exclusively in the UK for four years. In the last calendar year, retail sales of PEZ dispensers were £5m and we sold in the region of three million units to UK retailers.

"The brand has an amazing following here and we are confident that this link up with Red Nose Day will be a real winner."

Bon Bon Buddies was founded in South Wales in 1993 and has now grown to supply over 40 countries, including China, Russia, UAE and Turkey and has eight European sales and logistics facilities.

It is one of only two companies in Wales to be featured in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 League Table, which ranks Britain’s fastest growing international sales performers.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Red Nose Day which has already raised £600 million to help people in the UK and Africa. The cost of PEZs is dependant on stockists, but at least 5p from every sale goes to Comic Relief.