Hershey grows 21% and increases production
Valor Econômico
After disputing the purchase of Cadbury and losing it to Kraft Foods, Hershey had to take a deep breath and face the market alone, without acquisitions. In Brazil, however, the company entered into a joint venture with Pandurata, owner of Bauducco, two years ago - an operation that made the businesses of the American chocolate manufacturer grow in the country. In 2009, Hershey's net sales grew 21%, says its President in Brazil, Aluísio Periquito Neto. "It was the biggest growth ever reached by the company since it landed in the country in the late 1990s", says the officer. Now in 2010, the goal is to repeat the dose growing at least 20% more. To do so, the company is investing R$ 3.5 million (US$ 1.89 million) in the increase of the São Roque plant, in the interior of São Paulo.
The investment in the production will improve the capacity of the plant for the current products of the portfolio and add new lines for the manufacture of new products. "Today we are basically focused on the segment of chocolate bars in the chocolate market", says Periquito Neto. "But we are going to launch new products and enter into new categories of chocolate". One of the launchings is the first product locally developed by Hershey in Brazil and it is called "Paçoca Hershey's". Inspired by the "Reese's peanut butter" line - one of the best-selling products of the company in the United States - the paçoca is a chocolate with filling, or "candy bar", as is called the segment in which stand out brands such as Lance, produced by Kraft, and Twix, by Mars.
Another launching, the aerated chocolate bar Hershey's Air, will first take place in Brazil. "It is an international launching of Hershey, but we had the initiative of proposing Brazil as the first market for the product and worked out", says the Officer. It is not difficult to understand the reasons for the headquarters: unlike the stagnation or even the fall that takes place in many countries, in Brazil, the chocolate market grew 2.9% in volume, amounting to 141 million kilograms last year, according to Nielsen. From that total, according to data of the market, at least half was sold during the Easter season, which this year began last week and will last until April 4.
For this season, Hershey foresees sales 12% bigger than last year's. Curiously, the company does not manufacture chocolate eggs - product that requires specific manufacturing machinery. But, as it happened in other years, it will take part in the Easter sales with products given as gifts, like Hershey's Truffles. "As we have this partnership with Pandurata, we can share with them the experience the company has with seasonal products, forming a fairly profitable market", says Periquito Neto.
The company will also debut in a new area this year: that of the marketing campaigns. Since Hershey began its operation in Brazil (with the import of products in 1998 and the acquisition of the Visconti plant in 2001), it had never made any kind of advertisement except for a small merchandising action with TV host Xuxa, at the end of the last decade. The company does not reveal the value of this new marketing investment, but according to the President, the campaign intends to be massive, with actions on the open TV and other popular media. With 2.9% of the total chocolate market (two years ago that percentage amounted to 1.9%) the expectation is to have an even bigger participation.