Expansion project ‘put aside’
Nathalie Zagoda, corporate communications at Lindt, told ConfectioneryNews.com: “The project has been put aside.”
She refused to comment as to why the planned expansion had been scrapped, but confirmed that there were plans afoot to construct a training centre in Kilchberg instead.
Zagoda said that the centre would be for both internal and external use.
It will not be an R&D facility, but will be an attraction for the public to come and learn more about Lindt, she said.
The facility is very much in the planning stages and further details should emerge later.
The cost of the training centre was put at €2 million euros by another publication, but Zagoda said this amount was inaccurate and told this site that Lindt was not disclosing the price of the proposed centre.
Lindt financials
Lindt 2011 sales were down 3.5% on last year to €2.06bn (CHF 2.5bn), though it reported organic sales growth of +6%. Operating profit was flat at around €273m (CHF 328m).
When it delivered its annual results, the company said it would need to look to new markets to foster growth with Russia, China and Brazil among the touted countries.
An analyst told this site in January that Lindt was performing below expectations and was ripe for a takeover with Nestlé the likeliest candidate.
Lindt will post its half year results on 21 August this year.
The company had intended to expand its production capacity at its headquarter site in Kilchberg, Switzerland, but circumstances appear to have changed.
