Lindt & Sprungli 2009 sales down 1.9%
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli has achieved sales worth 2.52 billion Swiss Francs and an organic growth of 2.3% in an extremely difficult market environment for premium products. Due to adverse exchange rate factors, however, annual sales actually decreased by 1.9%.
Sales in the US, together with Canada and Australia, showed above average development especially in the second half of the year and Lindt and Ghirardelli were once again the fastest growing chocolate brands in 2009. On the other hand, in most European countries, negative consumer sentiment, combined with very cautious ordering by the trade, brought only modest growth.
The company has a selective distribution strategy so has been hit by the proliferation of the hard discount retailers and private labels. Distribution sales were affected by the difficult position of the importers, who were additionally confronted with financial problems in their home markets and unpredictable exchange rate movements. Duty-free sales declined because of the strong fall in airline passenger numbers.
For the time being, Lindt & Sprungli expects the challenging situation on the commodity markets to continue, especially for cocoa prices, accompanied by ongoing exchange-rate fluctuations and continuing subdued consumer sentiment. In line with the geographical expansion strategy of the group, the first Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Asia will be opened in Tokyo in early 2010.
