News

Pladis, the chocolate and snacks business of Turkish Yildiz Holding, has named Nurtac Ziyal Afridi CEO of Godiva Chocolatier following her two-month tenure as interim chief executive officer.  

Afridi, a Godiva board member as well as Yildiz Holding’s Chief Strategy &Growth Officer, notes she will work with her teams to continue making the company’s chocolates and chocolate-inspired products accessible by extending its channels to reach new consumers and engage with loyal consumers in new ways.

The company says her appointment comes as Godiva has sought to bring its chocolate to a wider audience and adjusted its business operations in line with changes in shopper behavior. Year to date, the company maintains it has seen significant growth in its consumer base, driven largely by Godiva.com and sales through food, drug and mass channels.

The launch of Twenty Degrees, a new specialty cacao business sourcing premium quality cacao beans from around the world, is backed by Olam Cocoa, one of the world’s leading suppliers of cocoa beans and cocoa ingredients.  

According to the company group, the premium chocolate market has seen significant growth in recent years as consumers become more interested in the provenance of their food and increasingly seek out high quality, artisanal products with a unique flavour and story. Twenty Degrees – named for the cacao belt which ranges twenty degrees north and south of the equator – is responding by sourcing premium quality cacao beans from ten unique regions, each hand-picked for their distinctive flavour and sensory profile.

The business will unlock opportunities for farmers by bringing single origin cacao beans to market that are either too specialist or too remote to be sold to mainstream manufacturers. From cacao grown in the highland Simbu region of Papua New Guinea, to beans farmed by the indigenous Eperara community in Ecuador’s coastal rainforest, a community only accessible by boat. A team of agronomists will work with each community to make sure the quality and flavour of its cacao meets the highest standards.

The Twenty Degrees business model is built on positive partnerships with farmers and customers. It is helping farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and investing in the growth and security of the communities it works with. This also allows it to provide customers with new levels of transparency and traceability right back to the farm gate, so chocolate makers can know everything about the cacao beans they buy, from the farmers who grew them to the carbon footprint of the crop.

Leopold Palmer, Business Head, Twenty Degrees, said: “We’re on a mission to change the way we think about premium cacao. We’re exploring new territories and discovering fresh terroirs in established growing regions, uncovering unique cacao beans farmed to the highest quality with the greatest possible positive impact. And we’re doing this in a way that is transparent, traceable and delivers quality, consistency and taste to meet the needs of craft chocolate makers.”

Twenty Degrees will be led by an entrepreneurial new team but draw on the expertise and operational strength of Olam Cocoa, one of the industry-leading businesses under Olam Food Ingredients (OFI). Twenty Degrees benefits from Olam Cocoa’s long-standing experience in cocoa sustainability and from the insight and expertise of its dedicated flavour lab in the Netherlands, which will test the specialty cacao beans and help to bring out their unique flavour, smell and texture.

Commenting on the launch, Gerard A. Manley, CEO of Olam Cocoa concluded: “With Twenty Degrees, we are combining our knowledge of cocoa farming and our capability to source from distant and often remote communities with a greater focus on flavour differentiation. It will leverage our existing presence to drive sustainable farming practices and support livelihoods as part of Cocoa Compass, our sustainability ambition for the future of the industry. We are building on our wider Olam Food Ingredients offering to provide natural, value-added ingredients that positively impact people and the planet. With the benefit of our knowledge and scale, Twenty Degrees will create something truly unique in the specialty market.” 

The use of face masks during the recent pandemic has justifiably grown to hundreds of millions worldwide. However, masks can easily end up littering public places or natural sites. Metsä Board, a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, partnered up with a packaging design agency Futupack and corrugated board converter Capertum to manufacture a corrugated waste bin for the specific disposal of face masks. The design of the bins paid special attention to the materials used to produce the bin and the usability and disposability of the bin.

Futupack is a Finnish company that designs and implements sustainable packaging solutions. Jani Mäkipää, Lead Packaging Engineer at Futupack, explains: “We wanted the mask bin to be as aesthetic as possible so that it could be placed easily into any indoor environment. The mask bin is delivered flat, and can be quickly assembled. In addition, full instructions on assembly for the consumers are printed on to the bin itself. When the mask bin is full, it is easy to close the lid, and the entire bin can be safely and hygienically disposed of with the incinerated waste”.

MetsäBoard Pro WKL 160 g/m2 coated white kraftliner was used as the top liner of the mask bin. The Finnish corrugated board converter Capertum printed the e-flute corrugated board in silk screen. The bin is light and robust thanks to the fresh fibres of the white kraftliner, and its stylish, lightweight design makes it easy to place in various indoor public spaces.

Despite significant challenges across the globe due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lindt & Sprüngli has achieved a solid result in the financial year 2020. Organic sales declined by 6.1%, but market shares increased in nearly all countries, and positive sales growth was generated in important markets. After the pandemic-related decline in the Easter business, the global chocolate markets have grown steadily. The premium segment, in which Lindt & Sprüngli is leading, has grown at an above-average rate. Thanks to a wide range of chocolate tablets, Lindt & Sprüngli continued to benefit strongly from the increased demand for products for personal consumption. The main product lines, Lindor and Excellence, in particular contributed to this positive development in retail trade. The Excellence chocolate tablet range even recorded a double-digit increase. Lindt & Sprüngli responded to the changing shopping behaviour as a consequence of the regulatory measures with numerous entrepreneurial initiatives, such as home deliveries, pick-up services, and the expansion of the e-commerce business. As a result, online sales doubled to around 5% of sales.

The global restrictions and regulations in place to contain the spread of the pandemic unfortunately affected important areas of Lindt & Sprüngli’s business. The company’s own global store network suffered from closures and reduced consumer traffic. Easter and Christmas, the most important seasonal gift-giving occasions, were also affected. Restrictions on the food service segment in North America and the traditional specialty stores in Italy had a major impact on sales. The Travel Retail business also recorded a significant decline in sales due to restricted air traffic.

In the financial year 2020, the Lindt & Sprüngli Group achieved sales of CHF 4.02 bn, which corresponds to an organic sales development of -  6.1%. Despite the negative impact of the second wave of the pandemic, this decline is within the target range of - 5% to - 7%, as announced in the half-year 2020. The Swiss franc again strengthened substantially compared to all major currencies last year. The resulting negative currency effect on the consolidated result led to a decline in sales of - 10.9% in the domestic currency.

Lindt & Sprüngli will achieve the target of an operating profit (EBIT) margin of around 10% in 2020, as communicated with the half-year results 2020. For 2021, the premium chocolate manufacturer is convinced to emerge even stronger from the challenging past year. Lindt & Sprüngli remains convinced that the positive growth of the chocolate markets and in particular the premium segment will continue in the future. In addition, in 2020, Lindt & Sprüngli has laid the foundation for further market share gains with continued consumer focus, increased advertising spends, and various product innovations.

Sappi Europe SA, a division of Sappi Ltd, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, will introduce new barrier coating technology for functional paper packaging at its speciality mill in Alfeld, Germany, strengthening its position as the leading global provider of sustainable paper packaging solutions.  

Explaining the decision, Berry Wiersum, CEO Sappi Europe stated: “Expanding the use of our proprietary barrier coating technology underpins Sappi Europe’s drive to maintain our leading position in barrier coated paper as well the commitment we have with our customers in developing innovative future focused packaging solutions which contribute towards a sustainable future”

The demand for paper and paperboard packaging continues to rise dramatically as consumers become increasingly mindful of the impact their buying choices have on the environment. The call for innovative, truly sustainable solutions has never been louder. Sappi is striving to support its customers to go beyond traditional film and foil-based material solutions, growing its products ranges to meet the demands of our ever-changing world. Working directly with brand owners Sappi seeks to create future-oriented circular solutions in line with growing collective global responsibilities.

The desire to continuously evolve to meet and exceed the business needs requires ongoing investment in innovation in order to create the solutions of tomorrow. Sappi’s acquisition of Rockwell Solutions has deepened the company’s barrier paper manufacturing knowledge. Adding barrier coater capacity at Alfeld Mill further upscales our capabilities, brings this unique combination of paper, dispersion and coating technology to more customers and enables Sappi to offer customers even more competitive and attractive paper packaging solutions.

Sappi has made great strides to provide future-focused products and services – matching and exceeding the needs of consumers now and in the future – delivering recyclable packaging solutions in line with the requirements of a circular economy. Environmental accountability is at the heart of both Sappi and its customers’ needs. Through this initiative Sappi will continue to challenge the conventional packaging industry with new ideas and solutions in order to make it easier for the world and the planet to follow a circular-economy strategy. The company expects to begin commissioning the new products as from mid-2022.