Rest of the World

The markets in the “Rest of the World” segment also recovered during the financial year and achieved sales of CHF 568 million, equating to growth of 19.7%. Japan, China and Brazil have seen particularly strong growth. In the duty-free segment, the situation has improved slightly as travel activity is slowly picking up again, and we see potential for a return to normal levels in the medium term.

Australia

Our subsidiary in Australia, which is also responsible for the New Zealand market, achieved organic growth of 4.1% in the last financial year. As in many other markets, the Lindor product group was also the key growth driver, while Excellence suffered slight losses. Two recently launched products, Les Grandes and Caramel Squares, contributed to the growth. Australia was under stringent contact restrictions for a long time, and the retail sector remained largely closed. This caused a significant decline in sales in our Lindt Shops. However, the food retail business and the newly launched e-shop overcompensated for this effect. Lindor, in a variety of different packaging units, was particularly in high demand, and the gastronomy sector also posted successes.

South Africa

In the South African market, Lindt & Sprüngli generated an organic increase in sales of 15.1%, although the chocolate market as a whole was flat. We are the uncontested market leader in each of our three key product categories of pralinés, dark chocolate and hollow figures, and have now further extended our lead. Two items which we developed specifically for the South African market were very well received. To mark Heritage Day, a national holiday, we offered a special Lindor edition and a Hello City Edition of Hello products in special packaging designs representing tourist attractions in major cities.

China

The Chinese market saw organic growth of 37.1%. This made Lindt & Sprüngli number 3 in the premium segment, having outperformed the market as a whole. An increased level of promotional activities regarding the Chinese New Year festivities supported further awareness of the brand in China. In addition, there were special promotions for regionally relevant events such as Singles’ Day and international festivals like Christmas – for example, an Advent calendar was included in our range for the first time. As before, the majority of sales come from the Lindor product line, but we are seeing increased demand for dark chocolate, which we are meeting with our Excellence range. In China, weddings are the main events for which Lindor products are purchased. Due to the pandemic these important occasions were either held on a much smaller scale or were postponed. Consequently, sales in this area declined. While online sales grew, bricks-and-mortar retail declined, but nevertheless we managed to gain market share in both bricks-and-mortar and online retail.

Brazil

Lindt & Sprüngli in Brazil recorded organic growth of 55.7%. The reopening of own shops after the pandemic had a particularly strong impact here. We currently operate 58 of our own shops in Brazil, and these account for the majority of sales. In the financial year 2021, we terminated the collaboration with our exclusive retail distribution partner. Taking over the distribution structures offers huge potential for growth, allowing us to further expand sales via this channel.
Direct operation of all distribution channels generates important synergies and increases efficiency.

Japan

In the Japanese market, Lindt & Sprüngli recorded organic growth of 22.8%. Despite a challenging environment, nine new shops were opened, bringing the number of outlets up to 70. Lindt e-shops are using the new mobile app to link the loyalty scheme of Lindt’s bricks-and-mortar shops to the e-shops. This allows consumers to enjoy a seamless shopping experience across all sales channels. Backed up by various marketing activities and a strong customer loyalty program, this led to higher customer footfall in both bricks-and-mortar and online retail.