Peeps, the chick-shaped marshmallow candy, isn’t just for Easter anymore (or Christmas, Halloween or Valentine’s Day).
Just Born, the manufacturer, is releasing Peeps Minis, the company’s first year-round product. And the brand is moving away from traditional holidays to do it. Celebrations highlighted in ad spots slated for next month and on social media include Static Electricity Day and International Sushi Day. The Peeps Twitter account, for example, is even visualizing the quirky holidays with a candy twist (see below).
Just Born is a private company and doesn’t reveal sales figures, but a spokeswoman confirmed that the figures used in a recent New York Times report are accurate: 70 percent of sales come from the Easter season (chicks and bunnies), Christmas (trees) accounts for 20 percent and Halloween (pumpkins, cats and ghosts), Valentines Day (hearts) and summer (patriotic peeps, and flavors such as lemonade and bubble gum) equate to about 10 percent.
The new bite-sized Peeps Minis will come in three flavors in candy aisles across the U.S.: Strawberry Crème, Chocolate Crème and Sour Watermelon. There’s a fourth flavor, Vanilla Crème, which is a Target exclusive.
“The Peeps brand works closely with some of its top retailers like Target and Walmart to determine which product assortments would be most well received by shoppers of each retailer and often create unique offerings based on feedback from the particular retailers,” said a Peeps spokeswoman. “The Vanilla Crème Peeps Minis hatched out of discussions with Target in which the retailer acknowledged the promise of the everyday Peeps Minis product and sought out a flavor they could provide exclusively to their customers for the launch.”
“Peeps entry into the everyday candy category with Peeps Minis is the next big step in giving consumers a new way to express their Peepsonality year round,” said Brian Bachrach, the senior marketing manager at Just Born. “Many of our fans grew up loving our iconic chicks and we are now providing an opportunity to enjoy Peeps in a size perfect for snacking that is sure to make every day a holiday.”