Christmas in April

That's right, Christmas in April: It sounds a bit absurd, but it’s never too early to start planning gifts and awareness etc. So, Steven Baumgärtner and Mario Siebig from MAGNA sweets met for the Live Talk, in order to speak about the latest Christmas products. At the same time, MAGNA sweets has been able to design its packaging to be almost free of plastics. From now on, almost all products are available in FSC-certified packaging materials.

Especially important for us were of course the special hygiene and protective measures required due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. The two interlocutors sat opposite each other, maintaining the appropriate two-metre distance, and as far as possible, products were touched only once. Michael the cameraman wore his cyber-Wear mask the whole time.

Mario Siebig presents two quite special Advent calendars of a rather unique kind. The flat Advent calendar is about the size of a bar of chocolate. It should be opened every Sunday during Advent, delighting the recipient with delicious chocolates. You have a choice of either Ritter Sport Cubes or Lindt Hello chocolates. The candles begin to burn when you open the little door.

The Advent candle is also intended to be associated with the Sundays in Advent. It is designed like a candle. Candles are often lit during Advent, becoming ever smaller, and so it is with the Advent calendar. Every Sunday, you remove the relevant number in the form of a cube, and are surprised by a delicious Lindor ball, in a choice of either milk or dark chocolate. What a lovely idea!

Last year, in July’s CG Live Talk, Mario Siebig presented the so-called Advent Dispenser. This interactive Advent calendar releases something sweet when you press the opening at the side. The Advent Dispenser has now been reworked, offering for St Nicholas Day or Christmas Eve, for example, a voucher instead of chocolate.

And for the first talk since the lockdown, the learnings from the Corona crisis were also discussed. What conclusions were MAGNA sweets able to draw from the experience? Mario Siebig wants to manufacture almost exclusively in Germany, as far as possible. Regional and local businesses must support one another, and so MAGNA sweets is working together with lots of businesses in the region around their location in southern Germany. At the same time, the company wants to keep CO₂ emissions from transport as low as possible.

Last but not least: Packaging. Even before the Corona crisis, MAGNA sweets was tackling this subject intensively. Although this presented the company with great challenges, especially relating to Advent calendar functionality and the products’ shelf life and quality requirements, they managed it. They were able to switch the greatest amount of products possible to FSC-certified packaging materials. The solution for the products is recycled, FSC-certified paper with a PE coating, which guarantees the products’ shelf life and quality requirements.