Lessons in Halloween-themed candy packaging

Coffin Crisps, Scaero Bars and Scaries. Sound vaguely familiar? That’s because those names are spooky variations on Nestle’s Coffee Crisp, Aero and Smarties.

The collector’s edition packaging, new this year, capitalizes on one of the candy maker’s busiest holidays: Halloween.

It’s too early to determine whether the products, which have been on sale for over a month, will drive up Nestle's candy sales.

But you can bet your favourite chocolate treat the company is closely watching its peer, Hershey, whose recent Halloween campaign fell flat.

The Pennsylvania-based makers of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Kisses last year rolled out a line of Halloween-themed wrappers (ever heard of "Screme Eggs?").

But the company over-estimated consumers' appetite for the scary packaging, “leaving an overhang of Halloween products that had to be sharply discounted,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The campaign wound up hurting the company’s profit margins during one of the most important seasons.

This year, Hershey is retreating from the Halloween theme, and are instead putting more treats in autumnal wrappers.

The company wouldn’t provide specific details on the reasoning behind the decision, but a spokesperson acknowledged the move allows the products to be sold for a longer period of time.

Halloween generates about seven per cent of candy makers’ annual sales, according to the National Confectioners Association.

They predict this year’s Halloween sales will rise about 1 per cent to $2.38 billion, giving Nestle extra incentive to study Hershey’s Halloween experience.