Looking Forward to Christmas and Chocolate with Nestle's Advent Calendar

06 Oct 2006

06/10/06 The magic of Christmas is particularly exciting for children, and it without doubt brings out the inner child in us all! Producers and brand owners manufacture packaging that strikes the right chord among young consumers and their parents alike – parents who are likely to loosen their purse strings more than usual at this time of year. Nestlé understands the festive atmosphere, and sells Advent calendars that return in different varieties and formats year after year. The Advent calendar increases expectations for the secrets of Christmas with each door that is opened. The delicious piece of chocolate inside heightens the experience.

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and Beverage Company with 250,000 employees, and is active in most countries. In Nestlé’s product range, chocolate production comes second in terms of volume after coffee. The company’s priority is to bring the best and most relevant products to people, wherever they are, whatever their needs, throughout their lives. Young consumers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland make up the target group in this area and the hollow figures are produced in Hungary.

Heavy demand for seasonal chocolate

The Diosgyör factory only produces seasonal products, i.e. they produce products for Christmas, Easter and St. Valentine’s Day. The majority of the products are known as hollow figures – Santa Claus, Easter bunnies and Easter eggs, all of which are hollow as the name suggests. Almost everything is packaged by hand. What is unique in terms of the handling of these products is that production for each season is carried out over a few intense months. After a certain storage period, everything is delivered to stores at the same time and sold for a limited period of time. It is important to judge volumes correctly, because who wants to purchase an Advent calendar or a chocolate Santa Claus in January – even if the chocolate keeps for a year.

FRÖVI BRIGHT – when nothing must go wrong:

“Nestlé doesn’t compromise on quality when it comes to chocolate. It is extremely important to tend to the brands at the same time that costs need to be kept under wraps,” says Petr Benda, Application Group Manager. “It is a tricky balancing act, where a certain amount of savings can be found in the packaging. We’ve had a quick look at less expensive cartonboard, but don’t dare risk production and distribution interruptions. There are no available time margins for that. Consistency is extremely important, and we have never had any difficulties with the Frövi cartonboard, which we have used for several years. Good printability and runnability in production are a must. At the same time the cartonboard’s strength ensures that products arrive at the shops in good shape, and the Advent calendar’s doors can be repeatedly opened and closed for a month without ripping,” says Petr Benda. Converting takes place at Zalai Nyomda Zrt.

Renewal and recognition

“Nestlé always aims to find the right balance between what sells products and what builds up customer satisfaction – the brand,” says Lars Wallentin, who has 40 years’ experience as Nestlé’s chief designer. Even if packaging is constantly renewed and varies between different markets, a strong focus has been placed on recognition of the traditional brands. Packaging should be exciting and safe at the same time.

FRÖVI BRIGHT combines the strength characteristics of unbleached kraftboard with a white and luxurious reverse. The construction of the board uses the well-established Frövi approach – a four layer virgin fibre board with a bleached (TCF= Totally Chlorine Free) clay-coated top layer. The difference with FRÖVI BRIGHT is that it also has a bleached bottom layer, making it unique in the market place. FRÖVI BRIGHT has the right strength properties for weight reduction and smart packaging solutions. Other outstanding characteristics are purity and a good printing surface. Substance range 270 – 390 gsm.