FDBusiness.com

Nestlé plans to investment €60 million over three years in the development of Baci Perugina to further strengthen this iconic Italian chocolate brand on the world stage. Nestlé will extend and modernise its factory in San Sisto and establish a new business unit to drive global growth for the Italian chocolate business. This includes investing in marketing to grow Baci Perugina sales abroad.

The Perugina company was founded in Perugia in 1907, and Baci Perugina, a foil-wrapped bonbon that contains a whole hazelnut, dates back to 1922. ‘Baci’ means ‘kiss’ in Italian, and each sweet contains a love note – the Italian way to say ‘I love you’.

Part of the business development plan entails a significant investment of about €15 million in innovation at the San Sisto factory for the introduction of cutting-edge technologies and an advanced organizational model that will allow the factory to respond to the needs of increasingly challenging markets. About 40% of the volume currently produced at San Sisto goes to foreign markets, with Nestlé chocolate bars for all Europe. The modernization plan will increase the factory competitiveness, in order to sustain the business expansion plan.

“The group firmly believes in the historical brand and the plan demonstrates it, because it aims to grow the brand in Italy and worldwide,” says Leo Wencel, market head of Nestlé Italy. “This is the reason why we have made major investments and fielded a team of managers who have achieved significant results in brand repositioning and sales increases in the Italian as well as international markets. We are proud to contribute in confirming Perugia as the capital of chocolate not only in Italy but also internationally.”