Most of the branded consumer goods are proprietary and have been on the market for many years. Orkla Brands also holds strong local positions in Russia and India, in addition to being an important supplier of ingredients to the European bakery market. The business area consists of four units: Orkla Foods Nordic, Orkla Brands Nordic, Orkla Brands International and Orkla Food Ingredients.
Orkla Foods Nordic
Orkla Foods Nordic primarily consists of food and beverage companies in the Nordic region and the Baltics: Stabburet and Bakers in Norway, Procordia and Abba Seafood in Sweden, Beauvais in Denmark, Felix Abba and Panda in Finland, and Põltsamaa Felix, Spilva and Suslavicius-Felix in the Baltics.
Activities are concentrated on the business unit’s own, strong brands within the following product categories: pizza, pie, sauce, seafood, ready meal, jam, juice, cordials, chocolate and bakery goods. Through its well-established brands, Orkla Foods Nordic largely holds No. 1 or No. 2 position in its home markets.
Orkla Brands Nordic
Orkla Brands Nordic comprises Lilleborg (detergents and personal care products), Lilleborg Profesjonell (full-range supplier of hygiene and cleaning solutions for the professional market), Axellus (dietary supplements and health products), the Chips Group (snacks), Göteborgs/Sætre (biscuits), Nidar (chocolate and confectionery), and the Pierre Robert Group (textiles).
The Nordic countries are Orkla Brands Nordic’s primary home market. The business unit holds strong No. 1 positions in all segments in Norway, and several of the companies have also achieved solid market positions in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Orkla Brands International
Orkla Brands International comprises Orkla Brands’ branded companies outside the Nordic region and the Baltics. The business unit consists of the following companies: SladCo and Krupskaya (Russia), Felix Austria (Austria), and MTR Foods (India).
SladCo and Krupskaya hold strong regional positions in the chocolate and biscuit markets, and Krupskaya has further consolidated its position in St. Petersburg by acquiring additional brands. MTR Foods holds a strong regional position in the spice segment. Kotlin and Elbro (Poland) were sold in July 2009.
Orkla Food Ingredients
Orkla Food Ingredients is currently the market leader in the baking ingredients sector in the Nordic region. The business unit has a decentralised management structure, consisting of seven main reporting units that comprise 32 companies in 14 countries. The industry is fragmented, and Orkla Food Ingredients is now one of the five leading suppliers in Europe.
Orkla Food Ingredients’ largest product categories are margarine products (Dragsbæk), marzipan (Odense Marcipan), bread improvers and mixes (Sonneveld and Credin), and yeast (Jästbolaget). The largest sales and distribution companies are KåKå in Sweden, Idun Industri in Norway and Credin bageripartner in Denmark.
Results for 2009
In 2009, Orkla Brands achieved EBITA (Operating profit before amortisation, restructuring and significant impairment charges) of NOK 2,793 million, representing underlying2 growth of around 7%. Market conditions were challenging, with reduced consumer purchasing power and lower demand from customers in the catering industry. Top-line performance was flat, with weak volume and product mix performance. Overall market shares were reduced, but improved through the year. Improvement programmes which focused primarily on production and purchasing, combined with price increases and some major launches, counteracted the continued rise in purchasing costs. All of the business units achieved profit growth but, at the same time, important, large companies such as Lilleborg and Bakers in Norway, and Beauvais and Odense Marcipan in Denmark, experienced a decline in profits. Targeted efforts are being made to reverse this trend. Measures to promote growth in existing businesses and product areas, coupled with structural growth, will be an important priority in future.
Reads more about Orkla Brands in Orkla's Annual Report 2009
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