Perfetti Van Melle thinks outside the roll. (Marketing and Merchandising).

When a mint has an iconic packaging format like Mentos, which has come in a paper-covered roll since the early 1960s, you don't rush headlong into making a packaging change.

But after careful consideration and consumer research, Mentos maker Perfetti Van Melle has unveiled the Mentos

The new Mentos box has a flip-top locking lid, is 3.25 ounces long, and contains 24 of the chewy mints vs. 14 in the roll.

With a suggested retail price of $1.09 for the box compared with 69 cents for the roll, the box provides retailers with a substantially better register ring. And that's significant because IRI data shows that the average front-end transaction has climbed from 65 cents in the mid90s to $1.02 currently, says Bob Howard, vice president of marketing for Perfetti Van Melle USA.

"It isn't just the dollar ring-up, but it is space productivity vs. the roll," says Howard. The box format allows retailers to accommodate more front-end facings than the rolls permitted, he explains.

Perfetti Van Melle's new product offering in the gum category also is designed to "optimize retail shelf space," because it too comes in a flip-top box, says Howard. In addition, it's a good fit with the Mentos chewy mint.

The new item, Mentos NewCharge Gum, is "almost a fusion of gum and mint," Howard reflects. Perfetti Van Melle bills it as a "microgum, which means that its piece size is smaller than that of typical gum pieces. NewCharge Gum, which is offered in two flavors -- Fresh Charge and Cool Charge -- comes in a 45-piece box and has a suggested retail price of 99 cents.