FEATURE
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
19 SEPTEMBER 2025 ASIAN TRADER 49
available until the end of the year,
ensuring festival-goers stay
energised and ready to enjoy the
music.”
For students who have enjoyed
themselves attending concerts
over the summer arrive at college
and university with happy
memories, the Rockstar Brand is
right there in the chiller to remind
them and to help them relive the
good times.
Food-to-go specialists Rollover
recently teamed up with Warner
Bros. Pictures to celebrate the
launch of DC studio’s highly
anticipated new movie,
Superman. Demonstrating
that it’s not only drinks that
benefit from tie-ins.
The collaboration gave
consumers the chance to
win prizes fit for a
superhero, including a
grand-prize trip to Paris
for an action-packed
adventure for two.
Complete with striking
point-of-sale (POS) and
co-branded packaging
across its famous
Original hotdog, the new
partnership was unmissable and
drove footfall across convenience.
Definitely more of this is
needed from brands as it hits the
student demographic spot-on.
The dual impact on students of
their new life away from home
and the excitement of Freshers’
Week and after is totally worth
gearing up for, according to
HEINEKEN UK’s Category &
Commercial Strategy Director,
Alexander Wilson.
“Fresher’s Week (typically
falling from Monday 22 Septem
ber and Sunday 28 September) is
an event that all retailers and
wholesalers can get involved
with, no matter if they’re situated
close to a university or not,” he
says. “They can do this by better
understanding the needs of their
young adult consumers and then
conduct a range review that is
targeted to this demographic.”
He estimates that during this
initial, heady period of under
graduate life, the beer category
will be worth £93m, demonstrat
ing a growing appetite among this
demographic for beer.
“Within this category,
world lager, especially
European continental
brands like Birra Moretti and
Cruzcampo, have seen the
largest penetration
increase, as consumers
travel abroad and become
familiar with tastes they
want to replicate back
home.”
World beer has indeed
taken over territory from
craft beers over the past few
years, and his explanation is
eminently plausible and also
tells us that student-age
consumers are those drinking
it. But it is not only lager enjoying
its day in the sun: cider also goes
down very well with students.
“When it comes to cider, the
category is worth £34m during
Fresher’s Week,” says Wilson.
“This is being largely driven by
flavoured ciders, with main
stream brands, like Strongbow,
which launched Strongbow
Strawberry last year,
leading this growth. To
capitalise, retailers and
wholesalers can look to
focus on fruit ciders in the
first instance during
Fresher’s Week and
ensure they have full
availability of these
should stock up on brands ahead
of Fresher’s Week, and then
create meal-deal bundles that
perhaps incorporate Spanish and
Italian themes that match the
world beer identities – for
example, Cruzcampo with a
Spanish ready-meal, or Birra
Moretti Sale di Mare with a pasta
dish.
When it comes to formats, he
says that large packs of beer and
cider take 11.5 per cent of sales
throughout Fresher’s
Week; however, single
and small packs take 23.9
per cent and 37.4 per cent
of total sales, “So this is
another element retailers
and wholesalers can
consider when putting
together their Fresher’s
bestselling lines.”
Brands and the marketing of
them – together with conveni
ence’s secret weapon of the
chilled drinks cabinet – are a main
weapon in the contest with the
mults, with students are likely to
indulge in a regular big supermar
ket shop than settled household
ers.
Wilson says convenience
retailers and wholesalers looking
to tap into student demand
Food-to-go for students
Tony Owen, General Manager at
Rollover, who make all the
baguettes and muffins, wings
and tenders students love, explains how to
catch take-out sales in your store
Stock recognisable brands that will attract students and
prompt impulse purchases. Our famous Rollover branding is
highly recognisable, captivating hungry students from all over
the UK.
Understand that delivering great products is just the
beginning. Make use of Point of Sale (POS) materials to ensure
your Hot Food-to-Go offering is unmissable - such as our
eye-catching Rollover posters and impactful on-shelf packaging.
Maintaining a dedicated area for Food-to-Go in-store is a
must. This can also be elevated by situating the fixture close to
the entrance to ensure students won’t miss it, or near a
selection of on-the-go drink formats as the purchase of food
and drink are often made together.
Availability is key. Despite lunchtime remaining the primary Hot
Food-to-Go opportunity, other occasions throughout the day,
such as breakfast, are still growing. Ensuring Food-to-Go options
are available all day is key to maximising sales in the category.
Make use of the cross-category merchandising opportunity.
Promotions such as meal deals will help retailers to boost
spend and impulse purchases. For example, pairing breakfast
options with coffee, or lunchtime offerings with a drink and
snack.
Make way for value. As students continue to monitor their
spend, retailers should make the most of meal deals to
communicate value and encourage repeat purchases.
Hold space for premium. We have seen an increase in offering
multiple meal deal formats to provide both value and premium
propositions to students. This is therefore becoming
increasingly important for a Hot Food-to-Go offering to cater
to a wide range of shoppers.