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Circular Quay
Sydney, Australia

range of chocolate bars and implementing a retail strategy that begins out in the industry.
with zoning in on specific online countries of interest before expanding “It is our product that differentiates us in the chocolate world, and in
with a physical presence. the future we aim to extend our ranges based around this concept of
Moving forward, there will be a strong focus on Europe as its key seashell chocolate that focuses on Belgian chocolate with a praline filling
markets are currently in this continent, for example the UK accounts created with roasted hazelnuts,” Snick highlights.
for 15 per cent of total revenue. Following this European growth, the Looking to the future, the current CEO says that moving to plastic
next stage of expansion will involve building the brand in key countries free packaging is a massive challenge facing the company right now, as
across the world like the US and China. Snick feels these two are the currently there is no technology available to make chocolate packaging
most important locations where they would like to build a presence as plastic free.
additional core countries for Guylian in the future. “Our other challenge is to ensure ingredients are sourced sustainably
“I feel we do not need any additional innovation within the company and responsibly and that we take care of the communities who help to
because as long as the fundamentals are in place, Belgian chocolate is an supply us, and that in the future we can move to the packaging that has
incredibly well-known item around the world so we want to make sure the most minimal ecological footprint possible,” Snick says.
Guylian is front and centre in this segment with a strong, positive brand As we near the end of our time with Tom, he explains that what
image that promotes sustainability and responsible sourcing. From here he and his team have done in the last 12 months is begin the process
we will look to increase our shelf presence in the next few years, and of building something beautiful by polishing the brand to the level it
then we can go to the next step and the next level.” is now, which means the company has a very significant, relevant and
The Guylian concept is one of premium chocolate that still utilises differentiated offer for the consumer and now the real work begins in
the original recipe of the founder and high-quality ingredients to create building the brand to become a global powerhouse.
products that are different in shape and flavour and are incredibly
unique. They also continue to have a minimal ecological footprint and
they take care of the communities that enable them to make these
chocolate gems.
Harnessing the power of social media, the company is developing
a new roadmap that will promote the business across multimedia
platforms in the four key countries of the UK, Belgium, Germany
and Spain, along with smaller operations across the Netherlands
and Portugal.
Speaking on the topic of social media, Snick explains that in tandem
with social media marketing, television still plays a vital role, particularly
for their demographic which focuses on a slightly older target group of
35-55 year olds, and they have a brand new TV campaign which can be
seen on all social media platforms this month.
“Within this target group, television is still very much front and
centre of our marketing, but of course we complement it with social
media and we are setting up influencer programs. We are focusing on
a mix of multiple media outlets and a mix of initiatives and personally I
believe that the world is not quite ready for a television-free society,”
says Snick.
The company is one that has been around for many decades, and
this sustained success can be attributed to the brand’s unique, premium
product offer of chocolate seashells that utilises a praline filling made
from roasted hazelnuts, and the three types of chocolate that they use
to give it a marbled coating makes it a one-of-a-kind product that stands