Maintaining a 60-year-old model related to customers whilst conserving its heritage and sense of id isn’t any simple activity – which might provide an explanation for why Belgian chocolate maker Chocolaterie Guylian has cast off doing it till now.
Introduced in with a temporary to shake issues up is Tom Snick, CEO of the industry since February remaining 12 months.
The Dutchman has quite a few revel in within the meals business, having spent 13 years with Italian pasta and sauces maker Barilla after earlier stints with yogurt maker Yoplait and client items massive Unilever (albeit at the non-public care facet of the industry).
In Guylian, Snick has joined an organization that makes a lot of its romantic foundations.
The corporate was once established by means of Belgian chocolatier Man Foubert in 1958 and, consistent with corporate legend, “when Man married his lover, Liliane, the 2 immortalised their hobby for lifestyles’s sweetest pleasures, love and chocolate, by means of becoming a member of their names to 1: Chocolaterie Man-lian”.
The story continues. “In birthday celebration of affection and chocolate, the couple created for the first time the Guylian Sea Shell Sweets.”
Sixty-odd years later, the chocolate and praline sea shells stay the corporate’s signature product.
Schmaltzy or no longer, the tale defined above stays central to the Guylian symbol and the industry, based totally close to Antwerp, has sought to leverage its symbol of chocolate-making excellence and custom.
However, whilst conserving the ones parts, Snick is taking a harder-nosed way to the industry and is overseeing a root-and-branch overhaul of the way it operates.
When requested describe his manner, Snick makes use of the phrase “pioneering”.
He says: “It was once a pre-requisite once I entered the corporate. I advised them to vow me carte blanche or search for some other man. They permitted it.
“There is a gigantic quantity of attainable on the corporate nevertheless it had turn out to be dusty. It had no longer been controlled that smartly at the advertising facet.
“I’ve had 25 years in advertising and gross sales and I’ve been given super freedom. We’re fantastically agile and will take a choice in 30 seconds. We don’t have to invite for the approval of someone.
“There was once a way of urgency to make this turnaround.”
As with many different corporations, that sense of urgency was once turbo-charged by means of the surprise of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Guylian has all the time held a outstanding place inside airport duty-free buying groceries spaces and the digital shutdown of world shuttle when Covid first hit left that a part of the corporate’s industry decimated.
“That industry was once misplaced in 2020,” Snick says. “It got here again to twenty-five% of 2019 ranges in 2021 and we are hoping to get again to 50% in 2022. However we want to to find possible choices to duty-free.”
Guylian has been owned by means of South Korea’s Lotte Confectionery since 2008. Snick says it’s an proprietor that doesn’t intrude on a regimen foundation within the Belgian company’s industry.
He says: “We outline our technique, our venture and they’re totally supportive.”
However he provides: “In fact, it is helping if you’re a hit.”
And a hit it nonetheless is. Turnover in 2021 was once EUR70m (US$77.6m) and Guylian, which employs 230 folks throughout industry devices in the United Kingdom, Germany and Iberia, sells its merchandise throughout 4 continents in 120 international locations.
However Snick believes it may well be doing higher and, to that finish, has instigated a “thorough modernisation” programme. The headlines are about new packaging – which Snick describes as “a extra fresh and contemporary design whilst conserving the splendid appearance” – an upgraded recipe for its product to create a much less candy style, a advertising push and strengthened moral buying and selling credentials.
New-look merchandise might be within the retail outlets from April and Guylian additionally intends to release themed packaging round key gifting events together with Mom’s Day, Easter and Christmas.
Snick says: “By means of converting our design and model, we additionally wish to introduce a broader goal workforce to the unrivalled style of our top rate Belgian chocolate. The packaging can have a extra fresh and contemporary design, whilst conserving the splendid appearance.”
And, most likely extra importantly, Guylian plans to inform folks what it’s doing.
Snick says: “It had carried out no promoting for ten years, [there had been] no refurbishment or modernisation. It is a gigantic iconic model with nice high quality and a phenomenal historical past. We labored with a design company and now we have saved the entire iconic parts and simply modernised it and made it extra important. We’ve additionally moved again to the unique recipe from 1958 of 100% roasted hazelnuts.
“We’re spending EUR5m in promoting for the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Spain and wish to upload one or two international locations annually. We also are creating a TV business with a Swiss company which is a work of artwork.”
However, in the back of the ones efforts to revitalise the logo, different adjustments are afoot. Those come with SKU rationalisation to concentrate on a restricted vary, which might be to be had all 12 months spherical and hanging new product construction at the again burner.
Snick says: “We wiped clean our industry – 700 SKUs all the way down to 300 – with 4 key [product lines]. Sea Shells, Sea Horses, Temptations and the pill.
“We want to see a majority of these SKUs at the cabinets sooner than desirous about additional innovation. We want to construct the logo within the minds of customers to assist us [to develop relationships] with the industry.”
Longer-term, Snick needs to peer additional geographical expansion, a transfer into channels rather then retail and a larger on-line presence.
“The United Kingdom is by means of some distance our greatest marketplace after which a variety of international locations the entire identical dimension together with Germany, Iberia and Australia.
“We used to do so much in US however misplaced it. We are actually rebuilding there and it’s certainly one of our focal point markets. We’ve discovered a Belgian man who’s a distributor there.
“There are sturdy construction [opportunities] in Asia – China and Japan. Usually, they prefer merchandise with a robust heritage reminiscent of Italian pasta and Belgian chocolate.”
Guylian additionally does a “small quantity” of industrial with a distributor in Russia. Snick describes its industry in Russia as “no longer important” however says there are not any plans to finish the deal regardless of the present turbulence in that area.
Additional out, Snick says: “There’s additionally attainable collaboration with different corporations on merchandise and we don’t have a multi-channel manner.”
However that’s concerned about the long run and doesn’t shape a part of the present revamp.
“At the present time we’re specializing in 9 international locations, duty-free and 4 levels,” Snick says.
Sustainability credentials may additionally assist it retain, or draw in new, shoppers. Guylian has ambitions to be a moral chief within the chocolate business.
“We are actually 100% Fairtrade cocoa, use no palm oil and use 100% recycled packaging. We’re shifting to turn out to be a CO2-neutral corporate,” Snick says.
“I’m a father of 3 kids. We’ve selected to take those massive steps as a result of I believe we must act like this.”
Relying in your view, modernising a standard model all through a duration when meals producers are working underneath tricky financial stipulations could also be noticed as utterly vital to improve a USP or a dangerous challenge consuming up prices when inflation is rampant within the provide chain.
Snick takes the purpose. “The whole thing goes up. We want to have the option to hide prices with out making it [the product] unaffordable,” he says.
The Guylian leader suggests “while you be offering a top rate product, chances are you’ll ask a top rate value for it” however describes Guylain as “an inexpensive top rate model” competing with each Ferrero Rocher and Lindt & Sprüngli’s Lindor.
On the other hand, he thinks cash-strapped customers contending with emerging family expenses face extra elementary alternatives than whether or not to shop for top rate manufacturers or no longer.
“It’s no longer that top rate manufacturers are struggling however extra that the class is struggling after which everybody will really feel it to a definite extent. When you have GBP100 (US$77.60) to spend you’ll want to [previously] purchase 20 merchandise and now you’ll be able to handiest purchase 15. You may have to select,” he says.
Whilst making the purpose that chocolate is fascinating however no longer a need, Snick suggests it can be the center of the class that will get squeezed.
“The arena is shifting in opposition to top rate or value-for-money. Other folks might make a selection to have incredible chocolate as soon as per week fairly than one thing much less excellent 5 occasions per week,” he says.
On a extra brand-specific be aware, Snick might be hoping the cash spent at the product revamp and promoting marketing campaign will effectively merge in combination the fresh and the normal, conserving its current shoppers and attracting new ones.
If that occurs, it’s going to assist to gasoline Guylian’s longer-term ambitions.
“We’re a small model all over the place on this planet however now we have sturdy expansion plans,” Snick says.
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