A healthy level of growth Nestlé

A HEALTHY LEVEL OF GROWTH

Nestlé, the biggest food and beverages company and a leader in nutrition, health and wellness, has established a strong presence in central and eastern Europe. In Bulgaria, KIT KAT is now the country’s best-selling chocolate bar. Joseph Altham reports on Nestlé’s substantial investments in Bulgaria and the company’s initiatives in relation to sustainability, balanced nutrition and active lifestyle.

Following the collapse of communism, Nestlé, like other multinational companies, began to operate into the countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Nestlé established its manufacturing operations in Bulgaria as early as 1994, when the company bought a chocolate factory in the capital, Sofia. Nestlé has another factory in Bulgaria for the production of ice cream, located in the coastal city of Varna. The company took over this factory in 2005 as part of its acquisition of an ice-cream company.

Today Nestlé Bulgaria offers an extensive range of confectionery products and ice cream together with other business categories like culinary, beverages and dairy, breakfast cereals, pets` products, Nestle Nutrition products and Nestle Professional offerings. Besides chocolates that are well known in the UK, such as LION bar, KIT KAT and After Eight, Nestlé Bulgaria also maintains strong local brands like Kuma Lisa milk chocolate and MURA chocolate wafers, chocolate pralines under Taralejki and Prostor brands and biscuits Jiten Dar. The range of ice cream includes the popular NIRVANA brand together with the BOSS range of premium sticks, MAGNUM cones, take home bulk brands like FAMILIA and ALOMA, sandwiches and cakes.

Employing over 1700 people, Nestlé Bulgaria is now solidly established on the Bulgarian market, as the company’s communications director, Maria Hristova-Svec, explained. “Over the past 17 years, Nestlé Bulgaria has become one of the biggest strategic investors in the country’s food industry, with investments in fixed assets of over $40 million.”

Manufacturing operations

Nestlé Bulgaria’s factory in Sofia has been making chocolate for over 70 years. However, following the acquisition, Nestlé took steps to expand and upgrade production, as a result today, the confectionery factory in Sofia is a centre of competence for confectionery products in Europe. “Huge investments are made in new production lines, advanced technology, improving the quality of products, training teams, choosing the best raw materials and suppliers and looking after consumers’ health.”

NESTLÉ started on the Bulgarian market with the acquisition of a chocolate factory about 17 years ago. In 2002 Bulgaria became the second factory in Europe to open a production line for KIT KAT CHUNKY. In 2005, the KIT KAT brand expanded in the category of chocolate candy with the launch of KIT KAT POP CHOC. In 2007, the Sofia factory launched a new production line. “This was the largest investment project in company’s confectionery production in Bulgaria,” stated Miss Hristova-Svec. “A new forming and packaging system was also installed and the revolutionary innovations included launching a new facility for the mass production of chocolate – the only one of its kind in Bulgaria.”

According to the company data, the Sofia factory now exports around 80 per cent of its production volume. The main export destinations are European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Poland, while Canada represents an additional export market.

Together with the improvements at Sofia, Nestlé has put a lot of effort into upgrading ice cream production at its factory in Varna, investing a total of €6 million between 2007 and 2008 in order to integrate the site into the structures of the company. “Today the plant is a modern production facility that meets the requirements for ice cream production of the European Union and is certified to all European standards.” stated Miss Hristova-Svec. In 2008, Nestlé restructured its ice cream production on the Balkans, so that the Varna factory now supplies the Romanian market as well.

Social responsibility

In Bulgaria, as elsewhere, Nestlé is a socially responsible company. One example of this are the special programmes that Nestlé Bulgaria provides for professional training and development, such as the internship program the company offers to help young people develop their careers. In Bulgaria, Nestlé works constantly for development of sustainable production and employees’ education. Nestlé Bulgaria has implemented programmes for the reduction of water and energy consumption. Between 2007 and 2009, Nestlé Bulgaria succeeded in reducing the volume of water used for every tonne of production by 7 per cent. Over the same period, the company also achieved a reduction in energy requirements of 5 per cent per tonne of production.

Nestlé Bulgaria encourages consumers to lead an active lifestyle and to take care of their health. Under its “Live Actively!” annual initiative, the company organizes a range of big public events that are designed

to motivate Bulgarians for active lifestyle and balanced nutrition. The biggest such event takes place in Sofia every year and includes bicycle march, walking march from the National Palace of Culture to the biggest city park, as well as more than 10 locations with various sports activities, tournaments and concerts in the park. The event attracts thousands of people who participate in a wellness day for the whole family, together with the top Bulgarian athletes and stars.

Looking ahead

Miss Hristova-Svec says that Nestlé Bulgaria has built strong credibility over the last 17 years on the market and the growth will follow this direction. “The company will continue to invest heavily in state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring the strategic role of the Sofia confectionery factory for the Group as a whole.” says the Country manager of Nestle Bulgaria, Mr Juan Carlos Peralejo. The Varna ice cream factory will turn into an even more modern production facility, in order to play a greater role in the region.

In March 2012, Juan Carlos Peralejo was appointed CEO of Nestlé Bulgaria. It is perhaps a sign of Bulgaria’s importance to the corporation that his previous job title was Director of Dairy & Confectionery at Nestlé for the entire Iberian Peninsula. Mr Juan Carlos Peralejo joined Nestlé in 1987 having previously held various management positions in sales and commercial at Kellogg and Rowntree Mackintosh SA. Since the beginning of his career at Nestlé he has held various positions primarily in the company’s Confectionery business. There, Mr. Peralejo gained extensive experience in sales and marketing and in 2003 he was appointed Confectionery Marketing and Business Optimization Manager for Nestlé’s markets in Central Europe (including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, the Baltic States and Hungary). In 2004, Juan Carlos Peralejo was appointed Confectionery Business Manager at Nestlé Hungary and in 2006 he took over as Manager of Nestlé’s Strategic Business Unit in Confectionery, with base at the Vevey head office in Switzerland. n