Cloetta AB is the oldest chocolate manufacturer in the Nordic region. After the recent
de-merger with Fazer, Cloetta is looking forward to advancing its position in the
Nordic market, where Cloetta is one of the market’s best known and most respected
brands. 91% of all Swedish chocolate consumers between the ages of 15 and 65 are
familiar with the brand, and 9 out of 10 Swedish chocolate consumers buy Cloetta’s
flagship product Kexchoklad at least once a year. Zillion spoke with Cloetta’s CEO
Curt Petri.
Cloetta was founded by three Swiss
brothers who had moved to the Nordic
countries. Here they established the
firm Brödrene Cloetta – manufacturer
of chocolate, confectionery and sweets
– in 1862. The products were made
according to Swiss and French recipes
and took the market by storm.
In 1917 the Cloetta family sold the
majority of the shares to the newly
established Svenska Chokladfabriks
AB, a company owned by the Svenfelt
family, which still has major holdings
in Cloetta. However, the company
name Cloetta was retained as a
widely recognised symbol for good
chocolate.
“When I joined Cloetta in 1990 it was
a small, family-owned confectionary
company with sales of about 50
million euros,” says Mr. Petri. Since
then the company has grown both
organically and through acquisitions.
During the 1990s Cloetta took
over the confectionery companies
Again and Candelia, and acquired
Karamellpojkarna in 2007. “In the
mid 1990s Cloetta became listed on
the Swedish Stock Exchange. By the
end of that decade we had a sales
figure of 300 million euros.”
In the late 1990s Cloetta merged
with Finnish confectionary company
Fazer, thereby becoming the largest
confectionary company in the Nordic
region. During the period from
1 September 2007 to 31 August
2008, Cloetta manufactured a total
of 20,500 tonnes of confectionery.
“From a business point of view we did
fine after the merger, with increased
sales and profitability. However, soon
after the merger it became apparent
that the former owners of Cloetta and
Fazer, who now had part ownership
of the company, disagreed about the
long-term development of Cloetta-
Fazer. We struggled with that for
many years, from 2003 to 2008, and
then we decided to split the company
again.”
The first trading day on NASDAQ
OMX Stockholm for Cloetta in its
new form was on February 16 of this
year. The company is confident that it
has good potential to further develop
its business and further advance its
position in the Nordic market.
Cloetta has its own production plants
in Ljungsbro and Alingsås, Sweden.
In addition to chocolate, Cloetta also
sells sugar confectionery. However,
chocolate by far accounts for the
bulk of sales. Cloetta’s best known
brands are Kexchoklad, Center, Plopp,
Polly, Tarragona, Guldnougat, Bridge,
Juleskum, Sportlunch and Extra
Starka.
Cloetta is one of the market’s
best known and most respected
brands in its main markets Sweden,
Norway, Denmark and Finland. 91%
of all Swedish chocolate consumers
between the ages of 15 and 65 are
familiar with the Cloetta brand, and
74% feel that the brand has a good
reputation.
Cloetta’s flagship product is Kexchoklad,
Sweden’s oldest confectionery brand
which celebrated its 70th anniversary
last year. The ‘classic’ is still going
strong: 9 out of 10 Swedish chocolate
consumers buy Kexchoklad at least
once a year. In addition to the Nordic
region, Cloetta also exports its products.
“We also sell internationally through
Ikea,” says Mr. Petri.
The most important raw material
for making chocolate is cocoa, from
which the essential ingredients of
chocolate are derived – namely
cocoa mass and cocoa butter. “There
have been massive increases in
the price of cocoa for a number of
years now. For the moment the
cocoa bean is traded at the highest
levels since 1985.This is balanced
somewhat by the fact that the
prices of milk powders have gone
down,” says Mr. Petri. Because
consumers are increasingly looking
for lower prices, Cloetta is reluctant
to increase product prices. “So there
is pressure from both sides. Also, the
Swedish currency is low compared
to the euro, and we pay for most
of our raw materials in euros. We try
to deal with the situation by being
more efficient, but we will probably
also need to increase consumer
prices.”
To promote the sustainable production
of raw materials for its confectionary
– such as cocoa and palm oil –
Cloetta participates in a number
of international organisations. For
instance, the company is a member
of the World Cocoa Foundation,
which promotes sustainable cocoa
growing, and the RSPO (Roundtable
on Sustainable Palm Oil) which is
committed to improving the conditions
for palm oil production in Asia.
Cloetta buys fat mixtures containing
palm oil from its principal supplier,
which is one of the founders of
RSPO and a member of its board.
The palm oil used by Cloetta
comes from West Malaysia. Palm
oil certified according to RSPO
criteria, the only generally accepted
definition of sustainable palm oil
production, is nis not yet available on the market.
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