Nestle announced on Wednesday that for the first time it will begin selling its Cailler chocolate beyond Switzerland, as the company attempts to make headway into the super-premium chocolate market.
The Switzerland-based company, which produces chocolate bars including Aero and KitKat, said in a statement that it would begin selling the Callier chocolate brand in the U.K., U.S. and Germany, mainly through e-retailer Amazon. and through travel retail outlets at airports in Geneva, Zurich, Dubai and Singapore, the Swiss company said.
The brand will be available in China in mid-November
"It is a very unique brand and very unique product," Sandra Martinez, head of the confectionery strategic business unit at Nestle, said in an interview. "It has strong Swiss heritage and it's the oldest chocolate brand in existence."
The Cailler brand, acquired by Nestle in 1929, has been sold exclusively on the Swiss market since 1819. Nestle says it is the oldest chocolate brand in Switzerland that still exists today.
The expansion of the brand is part of a series of moves by major chocolate producers, including Lindt and Mondelez, to produce premium chocolate. Bars of premium products often include higher cocoa content, or come loaded with extras, from fruits to nuts to flavouring, and can command higher prices.
Nestle processes its own cocoa for the brand at its factory and intends to keep production at the plant. It also roasts hazelnuts and almonds in the factory.
Nestle plans to launch a vigorous social media campaign to introduce the chocolate in the new markets. The company will also launch a marketing blitz at Grand Central Terminal in New York in mid-October.
By using Amazon as opposed to introducing the chocolate in the mass market, Martinez said that Nestle officials will be able to more quickly understand how consumers are responding to the product in the U.S. and other new markets.
