Ricola targets China as it extends footprint in Asian travel retail

Swiss herb confectionery specialist Ricola has hailed “outstanding” recent growth in the Asia Pacific region, boosted by an expansion of its ranges with key retailers.

Ricola noted a near 200% increase in business with Duty Free Philippines in 2018. The retailer is now listing the entire Ricola 75g tin range which includes Original Herb, Lemon Mint and Cranberry sugar-free herb drops. The line was extended with a new Alpine Fresh flavour last year.

Alpine Fresh is the latest flavour in the Ricola tin range.

Ricola has also secured listings with King Power Thailand and with Plaza Bali in Indonesia (supplied by Heinemann). The brand owner said Dubai Duty Free has also increased its listings.

Ricola described its outlook for the Asia Pacific market as “very promising”, adding that discussions with major travel retailers for listings in China and Hong Kong were ongoing.

Tins featuring retro-Swiss designs will be spotlighted at this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition.

Ricola Vice President Sales Middle East & Travel Retail Andreas Reckart said: “Asia Pacific has been a very fruitful market for us over the last year; we have had some good development with existing customers, both direct and through distributors. We’ve also achieved a number of recent new listings, and expect to announce more in the coming weeks.

“Securing listings for markets such as China and Hong Kong is proving a challenge, but we have great contacts with retailers and are confident of breaking into travel retail in that part of the world in the near future.”

The Singapore edition: Ricola also has a range of tins with destination-based designs.

Ricola will highlight the 75g tin range, along with other travel retail-exclusive lines including a 125g sharing pack and four 200g tins featuring retro-Swiss designs, at next month’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore (Basement 2 H6).

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