Frey gears up travel retail focus as part of overseas drive

Switzerland’s leading chocolate manufacturer – Chocolat Frey – is gearing up its travel retail focus as part of a global strategy to build export sales. The company beefed up its travel retail team last year and says it now has both the logistics and product portfolio in place to seriously target new markets.

Chocolat Frey has been a “quiet” brand in export and travel retail markets, but in Switzerland the company (part of the huge Migros retail group) holds over 30% of the chocolate confectionery business by volume and is perceived as ‘simply the best’ by Swiss consumers.

With a heritage dating back to 1887, Chocolat Frey stands out from other brands through its fine attention to premium Swiss quality. Using only first class cocoa from sustainable sources, Frey adds only Swiss milk, Swiss sugar and cocoa butter to the mix, along with natural added ingredients and flavours where necessary. Fine grinding and unusually long 12 hour conching create a fine, smooth and aromatic chocolate that has seen Frey become the uncontested No 1 in Switzerland. Given that the Swiss are the highest consumers per head of chocolate in the world, this is no mean feat!

“It was a deliberate policy in the past to concentrate on building our Swiss domestic business, which we have done with unprecedented success,” says Chocolat Frey head of travel retail Claudia Rosenberg. “It is only in the last couple of years that the company has started looking outwards with a Brand Export Strategy and travel retail is seen as a key part of that strategy, providing a perfect platform for consumers to be introduced to the Frey brand.

“The perception is that other Swiss brands  - which dominate the market in travel retail  - are the most successful in Switzerland too – but that is just not the case. It’s time for Frey, the market leader, to show its true strength!”

Creating the right portfolio for travel retail is key to Chocolat Frey’s growth within the business. “It’s not that we are not present in GTR- we certainly are with representation in some 100 countries,” continues Rosenberg. “To a degree that is mirroring our success in developing overseas domestic markets such as in South Africa, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and Asia – particularly China and Hong Kong. However, we see lots of potential in other markets where travel retail presence can – in turn – help us to build domestic market strength,”

Chocolat Frey recognizes that while undisputed quality is paramount, packaging and presentation in travel retail can mean the difference between success and failure. “We have many product lines in Switzerland that are very successful but would not work in travel retail at the moment because of the dominance of other brands,” explains Rosenberg. ‘We’re not vain in that respect; we understand that we’re sitting alongside brands that are already hugely popular within the channel. We believe that we can add something to the confectionery offer and, given that it’s a high impulse purchase channel, we like to think we can help build confectionery sales overall.”

Chocolat Frey’s ‘hero’ products will continue to be the focus for travel retail, namely its Chocobloc 5 x 100g Family Pack, Chocobloc 400g range and Swiss Premium Chocolate Tablets 300g. “We have created both travel exclusive presentations – such as the 5 x 100g Family Pack – differences in packaging and exclusive category flavours, such as Crunchy Caramel, Crunchy Tablets with an extra high percentage of nuts inside, 72% Chocobloc and our secret star Chocobloc Milk-Orange,” Rosenberg explains. ”We’re now in the process of upgrading and modernizing both the communication and presentation for travel retail, maintaining the heritage of our logo but overall creating a younger, cooler, more urban look.’

An example is Frey’s Swiss Selection Biscuits, relaunched earlier this year in a new premium look 400g box. With its crisp modern design in red, matt gold and white, the box contains nine deliciously different creations combining the finest Swiss chocolate and biscuit.

Alongside its hero products, Chocolat Frey is aware of the need for innovation within the sector. Last year it introduced its creative Message for You concept enabling purchasers to choose from one of three designs and then create their own chocolate message for the recipient. “We have designs aimed at messages for loved ones, for family and for friends; it’s a really innovative idea because it enables the gifter to put together a very personal message from the wide range of options available on each chocolate, “ says Rosenberg.

The combination of Hero products, innovative ideas and modern premium packaging will, believes Chocolat Frey, help it establish a much stronger foothold in travel retail over the next five years.

“We’re currently in the Top 15 brands within travel retail and we’d like to be within the Top 10, “ enthuses Rosenberg. “It’s ambitious but we believe possible. We’re supporting our offer with a very energetic program of instore activations and promotions at key airports this summer, along with intensive training for ground staff which is utterly vital,” she adds. “If store staff can become our brand ambassadors through their own understanding of just how wonderful Chocolat Frey is, then we are more than half way there!”

About Chocolat Frey. One of the oldest chocolate factories in Switzerland,  Chocolat Frey was founded in 1887 by brothers Robert and Max Frey who opened the first company in Aarau. In 1950 Chocolat Frey became part of the Migros Group, moving to its current production site in Buchs in 1967. In 1984 the company started exporting, initially with private label. Exporting of the Chocolat Frey brand began in 2008. In 2014 the company opened its first Chocolat Frey visitors centre in Buchs which this year is expected to attract more than 80,000 Swiss nationals and tourists from all over the world.

Chocolat Frey is highly committed to sustainability. UTZ certified since 2011, the company is dedicated to combatting the problems of poverty and child labour amongst cocoa plantations. As part of its work, Frey has built and finances 12 family homes in the SOS Children’s Village of Asiakwa in Ghana.

Employing some 900 people. Chocolat Frey processes over 10,000 tons of cocoa beans each year from Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Venezuela and Ghana. With 37% of the Swiss chocolate market by volume, Frey represents uncompromising Swiss quality, know how, tradition and innovative strength.