PVM Confy Challenge 2.0 - Commercial Track

Perfetti Van Melle was established in March 2001 when Perfetti Spa acquired Van Melle, creating the world’s third largest global confectionery company. In 2006 Perfetti Van Melle acquired the Spanish company Chupa Chups. Perfetti was incorporated in 1946 by two Perfetti brothers Ambrogio and Egidio, in a small town called Lainate just outside of Milan. Perfetti S.p.A. acquired Van Melle N.V. in March 2001, which was an important step for the group to strengthen its position in the market, expand the product propositions and increase the dominance across markets.

Globally Perfetti Van Melle sells to over 150 countries worldwide and has a strong workforce of 18.2K employees in 38 operating companies throughout the world.

PVMI is a renowned manufacturer and marketer of several high-quality products in India. PVMI is a fully owned subsidiary of the global conglomerate Perfetti Van Melle, headquartered in Lainate, Italy and Breda, Netherlands. PVMI has a diverse portfolio of brands across segments (i.e. sweets and confectionery, fruit jellies, fruit bars, and proprietary ayurvedic medicine) which it sells through various sales channels across the country. Backed by a wide network of distributors and sales force, PVMI has adopted an aggressive sales strategy to retain a strong position in the confectionery industry in India.

Key Events:

• 1990: Izaak Van Melle starts a small confectionery business in Breskens by converting the bakery founded 60 years earlier by his grandfather.
• 1932: Brothers Michael and Pierre Van Melle set off for Poland where they learned a procedure to produce soft fruit chews. From the trip they bring the original “Tell Dough” to the Netherlands, leading to the creation of Fruittella. Based on the Fruittella recipe they are inspired to create a peppermint-flavoured candy to be later named Mentos.
• 1946: Brothers Ambrogio and Egidio Perfetti start Dolcificio Lombardo, producing sweets and bonbons in Lainate, a town just outside Milan in Italy. The company changes its name to Perfetti in 1970.
• 1945-1950: Enric Bernat opens a small confectionery factory in Barcelona. His family enjoys a long tradition of making sweets, dating back to the mid-nineteenth century when his grandfather Joseph started producing them in Barcelona. World War II destroys the Van Melle Breskens factory, forcing the company to move to Rotterdam. On 22 November the official opening in Rotterdam takes place.
• 1950s: Perfetti decides to start chewing gum production in the mid-fifties, successfully launching the first gum, Brooklyn, that’s entirely made in Italy. The Brooklyn brand continues to enjoy an iconic standing in today’s Italian confectionery market.
• 1958: Like "eating a sweet with a fork": Enric Bernat creates a sweet that delights both children and their parents – the lollipop. The idea of putting a round candy on a stick revolutionises confectionery and gives rise to the brand Chupa Chups.
• 1960s: Fruittella and Mentos enjoy rapid success being sold in rolls.
• 1968: In Lainate, Italy, Perfetti sets up the Gum Base Company, a strategic asset for the production of gum base, the primary raw material for chewing gum.
• 1969: Salvador Dalí sketches what is to become the Chupa Chups logo on a piece of newspaper, in less than an hour over lunch with the founder of Chupa Chups. This logo, still in existence today, centres the brand’s name on an attractive design based on a daisy.
• 1970s: Perfetti launches several candy and gum brands that continue to delight consumers today: Big Babol, Morositas, Vigorsol, Happydent, Vivident and Alpenliebe.
• 1976: The first Mentos advertising commercial airs on Dutch television in June.
• 1984: Van Melle relocates from Rotterdam to Breda to increase production space and meet increasing demand; it inaugurates the new factory on 28 September. Van Melle broadens its product range with the acquisition of Gebr, Verdujin, Look-O-Look and Peco.
• 1994: Chupa Chups launches Smint, refreshing micro-mints for the adult confectionery market.
• 1995: Perfetti acquires Frisk, a Belgian company that produces small refreshing sugar-free mini mints, already very popular in Belgium and Japan.
• 1998: Van Melle acquires Klene, a Dutch company famous for its liquorice products.
• 2001: Perfetti Van Melle is born. Perfetti, which had amassed a 37% interest in Van Melle in 1991, acquires the entire outstanding shareholding. In March 2001, Perfetti Van Melle begins operations as the third-largest global confectionery group in the world.
• 2005: Mentos diversifies and becomes a chewing gum making its debut in Europe and beyond. It continues to be a great success, thanks to its refreshing taste, unique shape and texture.
• 2006: PVM acquires 100% of Chupa Chups, the family-owned Spanish Group famous for the Chupa Chups and Smint brands.
• 2002-2013: PVM expands its activities in Europe and Asia, building new manufacturing units in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Spain, India, Vietnam and China. The product range also expands, with many new products and brands all over the world.
• 2014: PVM expands its business in Africa setting up a new manufacturing unit in Nigeria.
• 2017: 70th anniversary of PVM Italy
• 2018: 60th anniversary of Chupa Chups

Brands:

• Mentos: Mentos refreshing taste, unique shape and texture is also available in chewing gum. Mentos Gum made its debut in Europe and beyond in many different flavours in 2005. Excite your mouth with Mentos Gum!
• Chupa Chups: Chupa Chups has conquered the taste, the mind and the heart of millions of consumers worldwide. Its personality and eye catching colours inspire a Forever Fun style that also appllies to a wide variety of products.
• Alpenlibe: Alpenliebe candies and lollipops offer a unique product experience. The rich and smooth milky taste appeals to the sweet tooth of both kids and adults. Its extensive flavour range, remarkable smooth texture and high quality packaging make Alpenliebe irresitable for everyone.
• Airheads: Known for their unique chewy texture and a format that you can pull, roll up and shape, Airheads are available as bars, belts and small bites in a variety of fruity, sweet and sour flavours.
• Big Babol: Ever since it was introduced, Big Babol has been a favourite with children around the world. Available in mouth-watering fruit flavours, it has no rivals when it comes to blowing "Big Babols"!
• Center Fruit: Center Fruit – a liquid-filled, fruit-flavoured gum – has been a success ever since it was introduced in 2005. It provides a lip-smacking, rib-tickling, tongue-waggling sensation with unique fruit flavours and a tantalising splash of liquid that bursts in the mouth.
• Daygum: Daygum is a sugar-free gum that's good for oral health. Chewing Daygum protects teeth by helping to neutralise the formation of plaque acids, one of the risk factors for cavities.
• Frisk: Frisk stands for extreme freshness despite its small size. This discrete micro tablet is perfect for whenever you need a boost of intense freshness.
• Fruittella: Fruittella products only contain flavours and colourings from natural plant and fruit extracts, so nothing artificial. It goes without saying that Fruittella always contains fruit juice for that extra fruity taste. So you can enjoy Fruittella 'flavours from nature'!
• Golia: A traditional Italian brand, Golia is best known as a gummy liquorice candy. Today it's also available in a wide range of flavours and formats: lozenges, balsamic drops, mild to full breath fresheners - or just for sheer pleasure.
• Happydent: Happydent offers a variety of functional gums with different formulations for a whiter smile, oral hygiene and fresh breath. As a sugar-free gum, it helps neutralise plaque acids.
• Klene: Klene has been synonymous with fine quality liquorice in The Netherlands since 1876. Klene today enjoys an innovative character, coming in a vast array of varieties: traditional, sugar-free and liquorice and candy combinations.
• Look-O-Look: It’s all about having fun and enjoying sweets at Look-O-Look. We create a striking shop-in-shop concept in any store: a candyland providing the most delicious selection of sweets – and a ton of fun for the kids.
• Meller: Meller is a chewy caramel candy with a delicious chocolate centre. It has a “more-ish” effect and is ideal for eating on-the-go.
• Morositas: The Morositas brand is well known for its irresistible softness and inimitable juicy taste. It is perfect throughout the day, whether for a quick break or for a moment of sheer pleasure, and is available in a variety of formats and flavours.
• Smint: Smint has a unique, triangular shape that distinguishes it from any other candy. In spite of their small size, both Smint sugar-free mints and gum provide immediate and intense freshness, anytime, anywhere.
• StopNot: StopNot is a snack that lives up to its name – it's crunchy, tasty and loaded with lip-smacking tangy spice flavours which makes eating just one… almost impossible!
• Sula: Sula sugar-free candies are available in herbal and fruity flavours. Natural ingredients and juices make them a must for those who enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle.
• Vigorsol: Vigorsol stands for freshness. Air Action Vigorsol is our most dynamic and eccentric gum brand – its surprisingly explosive fresh-air effect makes for great and effective TV advertising.
• Vivident: With Vivident, you can choose the sugar-free gum that suits you. Vivident Xylit ensures freshness and oral hygiene because sugar-free chewing gum helps neutralise plaque acids. Vivident Blast provides an unexpected chewing gum experience while Vivident Cube has extraordinary softness and freshness.