Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Confectionery giants Nestle and Cadbury are increasing the recommended retail price of a number of their chocolate bars, it has been reported.

A rise of around seven per cent will take place on some of the companies’ bestselling bars, including Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Wispa, and Nestle’s Kit Kat and Yorkie, the Grocer reports.

In 2007, when the economic downturn hit, prices were hiked for the first time.

There will be a 3p rise in Dairy Milk prices, meaning the bar is 30 per cent more expensive than it was three years ago.

“My worry is that chocolate is becoming a luxury item rather than an affordable treat,” one wholesaler told the news provider. “We are beginning to reach the point now where people consider small bars to be expensive and we are seeing sales through independents declining.”

“We have taken the decision to increase prices because of economic factors including ingredient costs,” said a Cadbury spokesman.

He denied Kraft Foods’ hostile takeover of the confectioner, which took place in February this year, has led to the rise in prices.

Source: Ingredients Network

Confectionery Cadbury, chocolate bars, Nestle, prices

With a global network of 29 research and development (R&D) centres, Nestlé has recently announced its plans to establish its 30th R&D centre in India. The facility will be built in Manesar, close to Nestlé India’s headquarters in Gurgaon, and will be operational by July 2012. The company has planned an investment of around Rs 230 crore in developing the centre, which will have an area of around 2,00,000 sq.ft.

The new centre will focus on popularly positioned products (PPPs), especially for India. PPPs are the ones that meet the specific needs of consumers with lower income levels, by offering them high-quality, nutritionally enhanced products at affordable prices. “Nestlé India has benefited from its global R&D network, with innovative PPPs such as Maggi Noodles and Chotu Munch chocolate confectionery,” said Antonio Helio Wasyzk, CMD, Nestlé India, while making the announcement.
“This new centre will facilitate innovation in a wide variety of foods, including culinary, cereals beverages and dairy products,” said Klaus Zimmermann, head of Nestlé R&D centres worldwide.

“Nestlé India is the country’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company. Our continuous access to Nestlé’s global R&D has significantly contributed to our performance and Nestlé’s decision to establish an R&D centre in India will provide additional competitive advantage in the future. It will help us to accelerate the company’s growth and contribute towards reducing nutritional deficiencies in India,” said Wasyzk.

Highlighting the importance of R&D in the company’s growth, he shared last year over a third of all Nestlé sales came from the innovations launched since 2007.
Revealing further details, Zimmermann said, “The site has been chosen for its proximity to Nestlé India’s headquarters. The proximity will help in facilitating cross-functional team work and ensure the R&D programme is relevant. The centre in India will initially have a team of about 40 scientists and engineers and we expect this number to grow significantly in the coming years.”

The Manesar R&D centre will work in collaboration with Nestlé’s research centres in Switzerland and Singapore, the product technology centre in Germany and the centre facilitating research in the Unites States. Besides, the centre will also work in association with Indian universities and research institutes in order to expand its knowledge-base and fast-track innovation.

Sharing Nestlés approach towards the much debated genetically modified (GM) food ingredients, Zimmermann said, “We have always followed the policies accepted by consumers in their respected countries and we will do the same in India as well. However, we are open to the use of GM foods/crops as we feel that in the long run this technology will provide food security.”

Apart from the plans for the R&D centre, Wasyzk said the company was investing around Rs 350 crore in building up a manufacturing unit for noodles in Karnataka “and in the future we plan to open more such factories”.

Companies India, Nestle, R&D

Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle is looking for new chocolate tasters for its factory in York, UK.

Applicants have to undergo a rigorous selection process before they are chosen for the paid role, a Nestle spokesperson told the York Press.

It is important that prospective workers are able to tell the difference between sourness and bitterness, which is apparently not something everyone can do.

The tasters also need to be able to articulate themselves and clearly describe the product they are trying out and be able to work as part of a team.

“We believe that the talents of our tasters play a vital role. Nestle produces some of the biggest and most popular confectionery products made to the highest standard. We need passionate individuals with high sensory skills and good communication skills to ensure that taste and quality is not compromised,” the spokesperson told the news provider.

This week, Nestle announced it would be increasing its recycling target in Europe.

Previously, it aimed to make 90 per cent of its packaging recyclable but it has increased this to 95 per cent now.

Source: Ingredients network

Chocolate chocolate tasters, Nestle, United Kingdom

Confectionary giant Nestle has revamped its Milkybar packaging, aiming it squarely at adults.

The firm has introduced what it has dubbed “sophisticated packaging” to boost sales of the white chocolate bar among older demographics.
According to Nestle, while the chocolate bar is normally associated with children, 60 per cent of total sales for individual Milkybars were to adults.

Graham Walker, Nestle UK trade communications manager, said: “We fully expect Milkybar Raisin and Biscuit, with its sophisticated packaging and huge adult-focused media support to bring even more adults to the brand.”

He also urged confectionary retailers to separate Milkybar from other children’s sweets and place it with “eye-catching point of sale at the till”.

Nestle recently launched its biggest ever cross-category marketing strategy.

The Get Set, Go Free campaign incorporates advertising on confectionery singles and multipacks, chocolate biscuit bars, cereals and Nesquik milkshake powder, and is backed by a £3 million marketing push.

Chocolate, Companies Milkybar, Nestle

Consumer goods giant Unilever has managed to break Nestle’s ice cream monopoly on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, it has been reported.

For 30 years, Nestle has been the sole seller of ice cream in the city’s public spaces but now, Unilever has been granted a license to sell its products in major sites around the city, reports the Rio Times.

Unilever owns Kibon and it currently has around a 70 per cent share of the ice cream market in the Brazilian capital but this could increase its share.

Recently, the consumer goods giant announced it would be running a marketing campaign in the UK with fashion retailer ASOS.

Called the Temptation 100 campaign, it will centre around a game featuring clothing items specially selected by ASOS’ fashion team and is the second drive by Unilever on the retail website in recent months.

The winner of the game will receive ASOS items and runners-up will take home discount vouchers for Magnum Temptation.

Companies, Ice Creams ice cream monopoly, Nestle, Unilever

Chocolate lovers have a new opportunity to learn about the history and processing of their favorite treat with the opening of Nestlé’s new Maison Cailler. At the chocolate center, visitors will learn the fascinating story of the Cailler product line by Nestlé, Switzerland’s oldest chocolate maker. Opened April 1st 2010 in the picturesque Swiss town of Broc-Gruyère, La Maison Cailler includes packaging machines from Bosch Packaging Technology. The innovative Module++ line features one Paloma D2 delta robot and one Pack 201 horizontal flow wrapper to mimic the actual Cailler production process. This project represents the latest phase of Nestlé Cailler’s and Bosch’s decade-long collaboration.

At La Maison Cailler, visitors can see the actual techniques used to make Cailler chocolates, attend a presentation on the history of chocolate, participate in a chocolate-making workshop and visit La Chocolatiere café. Mr. Diego Calame of Nestlé Cailler described the chocolate center as, “a real opportunity for consumers to see how our concoctions are translated into tasty reality. Along with our team of experts and quality operations, Bosch’s packaging solutions play a key role in Cailler’s ability to deliver finished products that live up to our idea of chocolate perfection.”

The adaptability of the equipment within Bosch’s Module++ line concept derives from a low engineering content, allowing standard machines to be linked together with minimal effort and downtime. At La Maison Cailler, Bosch’s two machines are combined with a third-party extruder to package the Cailler Branches brand of confectionery.

While normally the Paloma D2 delta robot processes products at dizzying speeds, the machine has been slowed to give visitors a clear look at Cailler’s packaging operations. The robot is known for its lightweight arms, which allow it to move with greater fluidity compared with traditional, heavier rivals. Its quick-to-assemble stainless steel structure and oil- and grease-free operation allow for easy cleaning for compliance with hygiene standards. The pick-and-place robot cell processes chocolates with pinpoint accuracy, guaranteed by Gemini 3.0 vision-guided software.

Bosch Paloma D2 delta robot

The robot then places the chocolates into the infeed chain of a Pack 201 horizontal flow wrapper, which is ideal for delicate foodstuffs. The line is arranged to use as little energy as possible and to operate with a small footprint.

Dragan Dragojlovic, Product Manager, Bosch Packaging Technology, said: “We at Bosch are excited to work with Nestlé on such an important project that will give Nestlé Cailler fans an opportunity to see the care with which their favorite chocolates are handled.”

Chocolate, Companies, packaging Bosch Machinery, Chocolate Production Line, Nestle, packaging

Workers at a UK factory which produces breakfast cereals for Nestle and General Mills have called off their strike action.

The strike at Cereal Partner’s UK factory in Staverton, Wiltshire, was due to start from 5:00BST yesterday (June 24th).

Nestle announced a national pay-freeze earlier this year and the strike was to be the first of three walkouts aimed at showing staff anger over the pay restrictions.

If an agreement has not been reached by July 8th, the next strike will go ahead. The third one is scheduled to take place on August 26th.

“Following the threat of strike action we have managed to secure certain improvements to our members’ terms and conditions.

“Therefore, strike action planned for this week will no longer take place and the new offer will be put forward to the workforce,” said Jim D’Avila, Unite the union’s regional officer.

Unite is the biggest union in the UK. It represents the interests of around two million members in various workforce sectors.

Companies General Mills, Nestle

Analysts have placed Nestlé as the frontrunner to secure Polish confectioner E. Wedel from Kraft with final bids due by the third week in June.

Hershey and Nestlé are among the final six bidders for Wedel, along with private equity firms Bridgepoint, Advent International and two unnamed companies.

Wedel is said to be valued at €2-300 million. The 150-year-old confectioner is Poland’s oldest chocolate brand and became part of Cadbury in 1999.

The Polish company, as well as Romanian assets, is being sold off by Kraft as part of the takeover agreement of Cadbury. The disposals were imposed by the EU as a condition for the takeover deal.

Companies Kraft, Nestle, Wedel

Nestle has opened a new a production facility for powdered milk and a packaging unit for imported Mackintosh’s Quality Street chocolates in Dubai. The facility will also manufacture chocolates and wafers later this year.

Yves Manghardt, chairman and CEO of Nestle Middle East, comments, “The production capacity of the new facility will be more than 100,000 tonnes per year. We have made enough provision to expand our operations to meet growing market demands for the next few years.”

Nestle’s Middle East operations recorded a revenue of over $1.4 billion (€1bn) in 2009. The company has 17 factories and 37 offices in the region employing over 7,000 people.

Companies Dubai, Nestle, plant

Chocolate giant Nestle is eyeing continued growth in 2010 following stronger-than-anticipated figures for 2009.

It has been reported that the Swiss firm posted full year profits of 10.4 billion Swiss francs (£6.2 billion).

The firm, which makes brands including Kit Kat and Nescafe, saw growth across a number of sectors, with only bottled water posting a decline, with a sales drop of 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

However, despite its predictions of growth, the firm remains cautious about the year ahead, telling the Press Association: “UK consumers are more price-conscious than ever and the retail market continues to be intensely competitive.”

In 2009, the firm saw a 5.3 per cent increase in Kit Kat sales and a ten per cent rise among its Rowntree brands, in the UK.

Earlier this week, Heinz raised its 2010 outlook to a maximum of $2.85 per share due to growth in emerging markets.

For the third quarter of 2010, the firm expects to report a profit of 82 cents per share.

Companies growth, Nestle