Cloetta Fazer acquires chewing gum maker Fennobon

Cloetta Fazer has acquired Finland-based Fennobon Oy, a company specialised in sugar-free chewing gum and candies. The company has a focus on high quality and uses xylitol in all of its products. The transfer of ownership will take place on 1 January 2008. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Fennobon is number three in the Finnish chewing gum market and Finland’s only domestic manufacturer of chewing gum products. The company’s well known brands include XyliDent- and Mumin xylitol chewing gum. Chewing gum makes up approximately 10% of Finland’s total confectionary market and the corresponding share in Sweden is 6%. Among other things, the acquisition of Fennobon Oy will give Cloetta Fazer expertise in sugar-free products and a strong position in a fast-expanding product segment.


Fennobon has its factory in Karkkila, Finland, northwest of the capital city of Helsinki. The company was established in 1990 and has 42 employees. In 2006 Fennobon reported annual sales of approximately € 7 m (SEK 66 m). Of the total sales volume, around 40% is exported to countries like Japan, the USA and Germany. Cloetta Fazer’s growth target in the chewing gum segment also calls for increased production capacity at the factory.


“Our aim is to grow and strengthen our brands, and we believe that we will have better scope for ongoing developing of the company as part of the Cloetta Fazer Group,” says Miska Kuusela, who is Managing Director of Fennobon and will continue in this role following the acquisition. For Cloetta Fazer, the acquisition of Fennobon represents a growth venture in the chewing gum segment. “Nearly all chewing gum sales in Finland consist of products with a high xylitol content of the type Fennobon is specialised in. We strongly anticipate continued growth for the chewing gum segment and will invest ambitiously to develop and market these products,” says Tom Lindblad, Managing Director of Cloetta Fazer’s Finnish subsidiary Cloetta Fazer Confectionery Ltd.