Loacker prepares to showcase latest innovations at Summit of the Americas

Loacker is ready to “get back to doing business” at the Summit of the Americas

AMERICAS. “Our main focus is to restart our presence in the Americas,” So says Loacker Duty Free and Travel Retail Business Director Juan Miguel Cabrera as the brand prepares for its inaugural showing at the Summit of the Americas — A Virtual Experience.

“Covid-19 delayed all those plans, so we welcome this opportunity to meet our partners and work together to get back to doing business,” Cabrera adds.

While the COVID-19 crisis may have delayed Loacker’s ambitions for the Americas, Cabrera says that it will be maximising the networking opportunities at the Summit to kickstart its travel retail business in the region.

He says, “We view the Summit of the Americas as an opportunity to engage the industry, especially in the Americas region, which has been severely impacted by the crisis.

“I believe that many other travel retail stakeholders will take advantage of this virtual opportunity to collaborate and support each other’s businesses so we can recover together.”

Cabrera says that Loacker is open to new partners from all regions, retailers and channels as the brand seeks to kickstart recovery

Loacker — a first-time exhibitor at the Summit of the Americas — will be showcasing new confectionery innovations that it hopes will resonate with audiences in the Americas. “The biscuits category was one of the segments that was growing in travel retail before lockdown,” says Cabrera.

“So, we hope that now is the right time to introduce newness to existing biscuit brands in the Americas. Loacker will be showcasing a wide variety of sweet biscuits, wafers and chocolate-coated wafers and biscuits at the Summit.”

Loacker will be showcasing new sweet biscuits, wafers and chocolate-covered confectionery innovations at the Summit of the Americas

While the focus at the regional event is to explore new opportunities in the Americas, Cabrera says that Loacker is ready to welcome to all kinds of partnerships to drive recovery. “All channels, retailers and regions are important to our business and we welcome new partnerships from everyone,” he says. “Our traditional regional targets were historically in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, but we are keen to explore new growth opportunities in Europe and the Americas too.”

Commenting on the impact of the crisis on family-owned businesses like Loacker, Cabrera adds: “The COVID-19 crisis was severely detrimental to so many businesses in the channel, especially for family-run businesses. It’s been really encouraging to keep working with those partners and seeing how confident they are that they will get back on track. So, if they are confident, we should be too!”

Loacker was founded by Alfons Loacker in 1925 and has grown from a small pastry shop in Bolzano, Italy into a world-renowned brand

There is less than a week to go until the highly anticipated Summit of the Americas – A Virtual Experience begins on 5 April. There is still time to register and join around 800 delegates who have already confirmed their places.

Visitor registration (free to all travel retailers and airport companies) remains open at the official event website.

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