Lindt & Sprüngli outperforming the overall chocolate market

According to the company, this result is very encouraging, particularly given the background of a persistently challenging environment of stagnating and even declining chocolate markets, with generally subdued consumer sentiment, high raw material prices and rising price pressure on our trading partners. Ongoing adjustments to Russell Stover’s product portfolio and the optimization of its promotions strategy slightly weakened Group sales growth in the financial year, while at the same time setting the long term foundation for profitable growth in the future.

Group sales amounted to CHF 3.901 bn, equivalent to 6.8% growth in Swiss francs. Whereas the US dollar strengthened against the Swiss franc, pound sterling weakened. This resulted in a slightly positive currency translation effect of 0.8% in consolidated sales. The Lindt & Sprüngli Group therefore achieved organic sales growth of 6.0%, which is within the strategic target range of 6% to 8%. Excluding Russell Stover, organic sales growth improved to 7.4%. Overall, the Group managed to increase its rate of organic sales growth from 4.4% in the first half to 7.0% in the second half of the fiscal year. Customers generally showed a positive response towards the company`s Christmas promotions, with seasonal sales much higher than in the previous year.

Organic growth in the Europe segment was gratifying, with sales increasing by 7.4% in local currencies. The main contributors to this growth were the subsidiaries in Germany, France and the UK, all of which recorded higher than average growth and gained important market share. Lindt & Sprüngli UK was actually the fastest growing chocolate brand in Great Britain. Lindt & Sprüngli achieved organic sales growth of 3.4% in the NAFTA region as a whole. The “Rest of the World” segment reported strong organic sales growth of 10.2% over the past financial year.

Global Retail once again reported strong double-digit growth in the 2016 financial year. About 60 new shops and chocolate cafés – mainly in Europe, Canada, Brazil and Japan – were added to the global network, bringing the total to more than 370 stores. Every year these retail shops and chocolate cafés generate over 45 million customer contacts.