In this part, we will explain the history of Heidi in Romania
In 1994, 3 young Swiss men came to Romania to work for the Red Cross. Their names are Jurg Laderach, Konrad Hafner and Massimo Palumbo.
After that experience, they decided to open a factory in the district of Pantelimon. At that time, Pantelimon was really in the middle of nowhere.
Heidi is a Laderach group company.
What motivated them ?
They had a passion for chocolate, they wanted to start a business.
They are now the 4th chocolate company in Romania, and on top of that, they are classified number 1 for dark chocolate. In 1994, the Heidi factory was built in Pantelimon, on the outskirts of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The company began to produce chocolate cream. The name Heidi comes from Konrad Hafner's daughter.
They had a passion for chocolate, they wanted to start a business.
They are now the 4th chocolate company in Romania, and on top of that, they are classified number 1 for dark chocolate. In 1994, the Heidi factory was built in Pantelimon, on the outskirts of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The company began to produce chocolate cream. The name Heidi comes from Konrad Hafner's daughter. The cocoa is imported from Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Heidi has become a high quality brand. The brand can be found in more than 30 other countries on all of the continents. Heidi has known a considerable evolution on those markets. They are present in Hungary, Poland, Canada, China and now, also in the United States.Heidi's success is the result of a combination of factors : their new products, the importance of innovation given by the brand to innovation and finally their communication campaign which has given them a new visual identity. Both the managers and the employees of the company are expecting an expansion in the future. They would like to increase the production and to ensure a better distribution throughout the world.
Heidi has a lot of competitors : more than ten. The company, which is one of the largest, has Kandia, Primola of the group Supreme, Kraft Foods like Milka which are some of their many competitors.
In Romania,Heidi is fourth on the market. Heidi is number one for dark chocolate in Romania (with the brand Grand'Or).
In Romania,Heidi is fourth on the market. Heidi is number one for dark chocolate in Romania (with the brand Grand'Or).
There are 320 employees. 170 of them are working in the production sector. They make a lot of chocolate, more than 2 million kilograms per year and they sell 5 hundred million Ron worth of chocolate. This is their turnover for 2010.
Here are some shelves filled with the chocolate manufactured by Heidi's competitors which we saw when we visited their offices. They put this chocolate here in order to have an idea of their competitors' production.
Here is the evolution with some of Heidi's innovations in chocolate production.
