Positive development at Ricola in 2019

2019 represented a year of change for this Swiss family-operated enterprise, with Thomas P. Meier taking over the position of CEO in May of 2019 from Felix Richterich, who since then has concentrated on his strategic role as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

“Multi-Active” and “Active-Free” are the two new functional innovations that Ricola introduced onto the market in 2019. The Multi-Active hard bonbon line in three flavours with a cooling liquid syrup core immediately received a great response in Switzerland. In Germany and Italy the company successfully launched its new Active-Free product line with the Ricola herbal mixture of 13 Swiss mountain herbs and an extra portion of menthol.

Above-average growth in the USA and Canada played an outsized role in 2019’s positive development, and Ricola additionally enjoyed a positive trend in Switzerland, France and Italy. Since January of 2019, Ricola Germany together with the international confectionery company Perfetti van Melle and Fisherman's Friend has participated in the CFP Brands distribution joint venture.

Along with sharpening the corporate strategy, the new Ricola CEO Meier has also reoriented the organisation to have greater proximity to the market and redefined the brand messaging. Meier comments, “It is a major priority for me to continue leading this tradition-rich company in line with its strong values. In addition, we want to ensure that Ricola will grow globally in the future with creative ideas and innovative developments”.

Following a good start into the first three months of 2020, the Corona crisis is also presenting challenges for Ricola. The focus is on the safety of the employees and the maintenance of the company’s operational activity capability. “I am convinced that thanks to our outstanding people, our brand strength and the excellent quality of our products, we will successfully overcome this crisis and emerge from it strengthened even more. We hope to find ourselves in a stable environment from 2021”, says Meier.