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Francis Beylemans: “There is room for an upmarket brand like Café-Tasse in duty free shops retailing at a higher price.” |
BELGIUM. Francis Beylemans of duty free distributor Francis Selection showed the latest novelties from Chocolat Café-Tasse at the recent TFWA Asia Pacific show in Singapore.
The Belgian chocolate brand’s new travel retail exclusive Travel Box contains an assortment of eight 9g mini-tablets in different flavours. The 450g gift box – featuring a practical carry handle on top – contains 50 pieces and retails at €20.
Also new from Café-Tasse is chocolate-coated Amands, in similar packaging to the Travel Box but containing a selection of eight 9g mini-tablets of chocolate-coated almonds.
The company’s best-selling line is a small sachet containing 20 assorted mini-tablets. French travel retailer Aelia sold 6,000 pieces in two months, according to Beylemans.
Referring to the brand’s potential in the inflight market, Beylemans believes the company’s mini ballotins containing five chocolate squares (77% cacao) could be given away as a complimentary gift in first class.
All Café-Tasse products come in environmentally friendly, recycled packaging, responding to the demand for such packaging by increasingly socially aware consumers.
Beylemans noted that Café-Tasse was the original producer of premium napolitain chocolates and has been widely copied since by other confectionery companies.
Beylemans, a familiar figure in the duty free industry thanks to his vast experience, believes there is a gap in the duty free market for upmarket chocolates such as Café-Tasse.
“Travellers upscale their purchasing habits in duty free,” he told The Moodie Report. “There is room for an upmarket brand like Café-Tasse in duty free shops retailing at a higher price. Just look at the high-priced Scotch whiskies and Cognacs that are on sale. When the customer gets to the confectionery section, all he sees is low-end chocolate.”
Beylemans, who also distributes the Corné Port Royal chocolate brand, can combine shipments for retailers in order to avoid over-stocking. “This is a big benefit when you consider shelf life and space issues,” he added.
About Francis Selection
Francis Selection has the exclusive worldwide rights for Café-Tasse (www.cafe-tasse.com) in duty free and is a distributor/agent for the Corné Port Royal chocolate brand (www.corne-port-royal.be). In addition, the company distributes Starbrook Airlines Chocolates in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Francis Selection also has the worldwide duty free distribution rights for a wide range of Belgian speciality beers: Trappist Westmalle (the number one Trappist beer in Belgium), Trappist Orval, Trappist Achel, Brouwerij Haacht (Abbey Tongerlo & Primus beer), Bavik (Petrus & Wittekerke) and Corsendonk Christmas beer. The company offers gift packs for the five Trappist Breweries – Westmalle, Orval, Chimay, Rochefort and Achel – as well as Duvel Moortgat, Abbey Corsendonk beer and Grimbergen.
For details, contact Francis Beylemans, Francis Selection, Nestléstrasse 10, CH 6330, CHAM, Switzerland, tel/fax: +41 41 780 9522, e-mail fbeylemans@francis-selection.com
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