Lindt & Sprungli Outperforms Chocolate Market
Swiss premium chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprungli has outperformed the international chocolate market with organic sales growth of 7.3% in local currencies for 2010. Lindt & Sprungli, which has six production sites in Europe, two in the US and distribution and sales companies on four continents, managed to increase share in all of its key markets and further strengthen the Lindt, Ghirardelli and Caffarel brands. The group has performed in line with its sales forecasts, and the measures implemented in 2009 in preparation for an economic upswing have proven successful.
Lindt & Sprungli reported sales of SFr2.58b (Eur1.98b) and expects to post an operating profit (EBIT) for 2010 in the SFr300-340m range when it announces its full results in March. However, the consolidated sales figure in Swiss francs was impaired by negative currency effects involving the euro as well as the US dollar and pound sterling, resulting in an increase of 2.2% as against the previous year.
Practically all group companies succeeded in outperforming their respective market. Double-digit growth was generated in Lindt & Sprungli’s most important sales market of North America, where Lindt and Ghirardelli were once again among the chocolate brands that enjoyed the most rapid growth. The same was true of the UK, the largest European overall chocolate market. Also in countries such as Italy and Germany, which had been particularly hard hit by the economic crisis in 2009 and the associated weakness of consumer sentiment, Lindt & Sprungli again recorded substantial growth rates.
Even in the ultra-competitive and highly saturated Swiss home market, Lindt & Sprungli was able to expand its already considerable market share. Despite the strong Swiss franc, direct exports from Switzerland to the overseas markets performed positively, posting high double-digit figures – confirming that the ‘step-by-step’ strategy is having a significant impact in terms of anchoring the Lindt brand ever more broadly in emerging markets. Only Australia failed to meet expectations.
