Godiva raises its sales with Yıldız Holding

Güneş Kömürcüler ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Godiva reached $765 million of annual revenue this year CEO, Jim Goldman, says during a meeting. Company photo

Godiva, one of the world’s leading premium chocolate brands, has been very happy with its acquisition by Turkey’s Yıldız Holding from Campbell Soup, after reaching 10 percent of annual global growth and $765 million of annual revenue this year, said Godiva CEO, Jim Goldman, during a meeting yesterday. This figure had been around $500 million before the acquisition, Goldman added. 

“Godiva was not strategically a priority for Campbell Soup, but it is for Yıldız Holding, which makes really big production and marketing investments in the Godiva brand. Thanks to this long-term perspective, our annual growth rate has been over 10 percent for the last five years. And our revenue will reach around $765 million at the end of the year from around $500 million before the acquisition,” Goldman said during the meeting to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Yıldız’s acquisition of Godiva. 

Yıldız Holding, the owner of the Ülker Group, a diversified food company based in Istanbul, acquired the brand in 2008 for $850 million. 

One of the main reasons behind this growth was the significant rise in the investments in the brand and the global growth strategy. 

“The investments in marketing have risen around 63 percent, in sales around 29 percent and in infrastructure around 40 percent. In this vein, the production capacity of the U.S. and Belgium factories has risen 73 percent and 50 percent, respectively, for the last five years,” he said. 

North America had always been the principal market for Godiva, he noted, adding that the brand had been in great need of market diversification. 

“We have managed to increase our global sales [other than U.S. sales] to 52 percent from 43 percent since 2008, adding 88 new stores mainly in China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian markets,” Goldman said. 

Godiva representatives also said they decreased their North American stores to 217 from 276 to increase the profitability per store. 

“Each of these stores makes 37 percent more sales and posts 248 percent more profits right now,” the representatives said.