With a new identity, improved recipe and strong sustainability commitment, chocolate company Guylian wants to double its branded business. “This is an iconic brand, you can work with that”, says CEO Tom Snick.
Carte blanche
To make a pearl of the Belgian chocolate industry shine again: that is the ambition of Tom Snick, a Dutchman with West Flemish parents, who has been CEO of Guylian for one year now. The experienced manager, who has passages at Unilever, Spadel and Barilla on his CV, was given carte blanche by the South Korean owner Lotte Confectionery: “I get a turnover and an EBITDA target and apart from that I can do what I like best. I have spoken to the owner for an hour three times and we are in complete agreement. That is why we can go fast. I didn’t hesitate for a second: this is an iconic brand, you can work with that.”
Guylian is now taking an important first step, with a complete relaunch. “When I arrived here, one thing was clear: the back office of this company – production, supply chain, R&D, quality – is top-notch. The problem was at the front, in marketing and sales. Guylian is a fantastic brand, everyone knows it, but it had become old-fashioned.” As a result, it had also gradually disappeared from attention and from supermarket shelves.
Accessible and modern
Tom Snick does not want to hear about half-measures: the packaging is being redesigned after a pitch with three global agencies. “If you want to sell a Jaguar – in this case premium Belgian chocolate – use agencies that are at that level. The new designs come from Superunion, Heineken‘s design supplier. We’re working on a fantastic advertising campaign with Publicis from Lausanne. The video will really be a work of art!”
Yet Guylian will not become an exclusive luxury brand: on the contrary, the brand will become more accessible. “When I stand in front of the shelf, I can choose between Ferrero Rocher, Lindt’s Lindor or Guylian. That is where we want to be. We don’t want to be Pierre Marcolini, we want to be affordable premium. The blue-grey colour on the packaging refers to the North Sea. That makes it more modern, and it also looks more sustainable for the consumer. We distinguish ourselves more from the private label offer. The logo goes from gold to copper: that is the link with our copper kettles in which we roast the hazelnuts.
Sustainable and fair trade
Guylian not only redesigned the packaging, but also improved the recipe. “We only use premium hazelnuts that we roast traditionally in copper kettles. You will taste that, it is really a huge difference in taste. This is again 100% as Mr Guy Foubert (the founder of the company, editor’s note) originally developed it.” Consumer tests in five European countries are very promising: “Purchase intent goes up by 15%, from an average of 45 to 60, in all countries of Europe – a little less in Belgium, but that’s not illogical.”
Also noteworthy are the commitments the company is making in the area of social responsibility. “As a father of three, I find that personally important, but also as a company in this society. We have gone very far in terms of sustainability and responsible sourcing. We source 100% fair trade cocoa. We use no palm oil, no soya. Our packaging will be plastic-free and 100% recyclable. The blister will be transparent, allowing us to use recycled material. The factory has also been CO2 neutral since 1 January.”
Focus on nine countries
“We also cleaned out the house: we went from 660 to 330 sku’s, from 400 to 120 customers. In Belgium we have an almost new sales team. We are going to focus on nine countries where we see a lot of potential: Belgium, Germany, the UK, Spain, Brazil, Chile, the US, China and Australia. And also the duty-free market, although it will never be the same as before corona. You can sell Belgian chocolate in every country in the world, but I want to grow in Europe because that is a healthy, solid market. On other continents, you remain dependent on crises, exchange rates and so on.”
Guylian also wants to take steps online. Not with its own web shop, but through retailers, large platforms such as bol.com or Amazon, and the many online gift shops. “You have to be where the consumer is looking for you. We also want to be present in quick commerce, and I am thinking of HelloFresh. But we have a lot to do and we have a lot of ambition, so it is very important to focus. We are not going to deviate now. I’m not in a hurry, and neither is Korea.”
Becoming a frontrunner
All these changes lead to a significantly better margin, Snick emphasises. “We are investing all of that money in advertising this year, in Belgium, Germany, the UK and Spain.” Guylian wants to become less dependent on seasonal events, such as Valentine’s Day or Christmas. The brand needs to be there all year round.
“This takes the brand to another level. Retailers are looking for value. The ball is in our court. It will be a three to four year job before we have a solid position on the shelf again. The fact that we are fair trade and sustainable makes us an interesting brand for retailers. Coles in Australia has decided to list three to four references because we are now a sustainability leader. That’s exactly what they were looking for. We have to become a leader in all areas. Look at the Nutri-Score: it’s going to be on our packaging one day, so I want to look at how we can become an A now.”
The ambition: to double
Whether Guylian will become significantly more expensive? “Everything must be right: your ingredients, your recipe, your design, your way of doing business, your communication and logically also your price. Our price position was already good, now we also bring the product back to the level of our price positioning. We do implement an increase: this is not so much related to these changes, but to what is happening in the market. It is quite dramatic, especially for packaging materials and electricity. We have no choice but to pass on some of these higher costs.”
In any case, the ambitions are not minuscule: by 2026, Guylian wants to double its branded business – the company also produces some private label. “We dropped to 60 million euros last year because of corona. Last year we grew again to 67 million, this year we aim for 80 million. We want to turn this into a healthy Belgian company.” There is plenty of potential, the top man believes. Belgian chocolate is on the rise worldwide, thanks to emerging markets. “In China, they used not to eat chocolate, now they are already heavily into dark chocolate from Belgium. There’s still a lot of room for growth.”
