Ricola Head of Travel Retail and Middle East Andreas Reckart is confident of further DF&TR listings in the future.

Swiss herb confectionery specialist Ricola has secured a new listing with King Power International (Thailand) at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

The company, which exhibited at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore, is investing extensive resources into Asia and growing its DF&TR business in places like China, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Accordingly, the region represents the ‘biggest opportunity’ in terms of incremental growth.

A finalist in the Best confectionery product category at the inaugural consumer-voted Travel Retail Awards  in conjunction with TRBusiness and m1nd-set, the brand is focusing on developing its airport DF&TR business. Thereafter, it will turn its attention to other channels such as cruise.

Ricola is already listed with Gebr. Heinemann, Dufry, Dubai Duty Free, Duty Free Philippines and selectively with Lagardère Travel Retail in certain airports. The brand is also hoping to enter the Korean DF&TR market as soon as possible.

EUROPEAN FOCUS

The likes of Dufry Group, Gebr Heinemann and Dubai Duty Free already stock Ricola products.

Ricola Head of Travel Retail and Middle East Andreas Reckart joined TRBusiness and other trade media during a recent visit to Switzerland to tell the story of the brand.

The trip included tours of Ricola’s herb centre and adjacent production facility in Laufen and a visit to Melchnau to explore the herb fields.

Speaking exclusively to TRBusiness Reckart said: “Our focus is on Europe, which is our home base and where a majority of our business is, but we are expanding quite quickly in Asia with more listings hopefully on the horizon.

Ricola sugarfree herb

“We have just secured a new listing with King Power in Bangkok [Suvarnabhumi Airport] and are waiting for the first order. The King Power listing covers two products. One is the special edition 200g tins and the other is the small bag.

“We are really happy [with this listing] because it took us quite some time to finalise. This is a great step.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Reckart remarked: “We have a couple of other listing discussions going on so the idea is to conclude them as quickly as possible and support our portfolios elsewhere. This can be through sampling activities such as the one we did with Dufry at Zurich Airport in June.”

Increasing sales and rotation, however, is the prime objective. “We are placing new stands in different airports in the Philippines based on the success of the new portfolio we have,” he added. “This will increase our visibility and drive sales.”

KEY CHANNEL

Meanwhile, Ricola CEO Felix Richterich, who hosted a briefing with TRBusiness and other trade media at the herb center in Laufen, emphasised the importance of the DF&TR channel. He said: “With our ambition to be the world’s leader in herbal drops, we think it is important to be where international people are travelling.

“This is obviously in airports and on ferries. We want to be there. We want to touch our consumers wherever they are. The travel retail channel is a showcase and window to the world. It is of course a very good opportunity to show our brand and our values and product benefits to consumers.”

Elaborating on the potential benefits to travellers, he added: “There is often dry air in cars or on aeroplanes which can cause a dry throat. A drop of our beneficial herb extract can soothe the throat and refresh you.”

See the August issue of TRBusiness for more from Ricola Head of Travel Retail and Middle East Andreas Reckart and Ricola CEO Felix Richterich.

Click here for an in-depth profile of the Swiss herb confectionery specialist in the May issue of the magazine.