Lindt has been ranked Best-in-Class confectionery supplier in the 2017 Advantage Report for Global Travel Retail.
The Swiss confectioner achieved top-tier ratings across all seven performance areas: relationships, personnel, category, consumer & trade marketing and supply chain & service.
The Advantage Report Global Travel Retail is an annual study based on both quantitative and qualitative research. Advantage believes that collaborative business relationships enable superior commercial success and that to be strong, business relationships must be objectively measured and benchmarked over time.
In spring 2017, over 440 key stakeholders from 69 different operators participated in the Advantage Report survey. Participants evaluated the performance of their suppliers with respect to approximately 30 business practices.
The programmes run annually and the next one will commence in March.
Lindt first took part in the Advantage Report in 2013 and was ranked fourth. It moved up to third in 2014 and 2015.
Lindt Head of Global Duty Free Division Peter Zehnder said that the company’s dedication to listening to, and implementing the feedback of customers has helped it improve year on year.
Lindt held a joint workshop with Advantage Group International to help understand customer response, analyse strengths and weaknesses, and create a concrete action plan that takes into account each region of its travel retail operation.
Zehnder commented: “We have also placed considerable emphasis on founding and nurturing our premium partnerships, along with our continued focus on premium quality and our fast and flexible business approach.
“Innovation leadership is in our DNA. When it comes to products, we have channelled our expertise and experience into creating a portfolio of genuine travel exclusives, providing retailers with a huge array of travel-exclusive novelties and travel gifts each year, while appealing to different nationalities and every traveller’s budget.”
Advantage Travel Retail Director Garth McAdam commented: “Lindt is top of the class in confectionery and the travel retail operators are seeing the value that Lindt brings to the table across multiple business fundamentals. Retailers have expressed high praise for the quality of the personnel within its organisation as well as its ability to develop category plans that meet the retailer’s expectations.”
