Industry Confectionery Products Lollipops Founded 1958, Piloña, Spain Number of employees 2,000 | Key people Xavier Bernat (CEO) Founder Enric Bernat CEO Xavier Bernat (1991–) | |
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Type Sociedad Anónima Unipersonal Predecessor Granja Asturias, S.A.U (1958–1964) Number of locations Lainate, Italy and Breda, Netherlands Headquarters Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Spain Parent organizations Perfetti Van Melle, PERFETTI VAN MELLE SPA Profiles | ||
Chupa Chups (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃupa ˈtʃups];) is a popular Spanish brand of lollipop and other confectionery sold in over 150 countries around the world. The brand was founded in 1958 by Enric Bernat, and is currently owned by the Italian-Dutch multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck".
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History
In the early 1950s, Enric Bernat worked for an apple jam factory called "Granja Asturias". After he broached the idea of making lollipops, the investors left. Bernat took over the company in 1958 and renamed it Chupa Chups. He built the production machines and sold a striped bonbon on a wooden stick for one peseta each.
Bernat got the idea of a "bonbon with a stick" from a cursing mother as her child got sticky hands from melting sweets. Bernat felt that at that time, sweets were not designed with the main consumers — children — in mind. Shopkeepers were instructed to place the lollipops near the cash register within reach of children's hands, instead of the traditional placement behind the counter.
The Chupa Chups company was a success. Within five years Bernat's sweets were being sold at 300,000 outlets. When the candy was first created, the lolly sticks were made of wood but they switched to plastic sticks. After the end of the Francisco Franco dictatorship (1939–75), the self-funded private company went international. In the 1970s the lollipops appeared in Japan and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia, as well as Australia. In the 1980s it expanded to the European and North American markets, and in the 1990s to most Asian countries, including South Korea. In China they were manufactured by Tatagum in Panyu, near Guangzhou. As of 2003, 4 billion lollipops a year are sold to 150 countries. The company has 2,000 employees, makes 90 percent of its sales abroad, and has a turnover of €500,000,000.
In 1991, Bernat passed formal control of to his son Xavier. The Smint subsidiary brand/company was founded in 1994.
In July 2006 the company as a whole was acquired by the Italian group Perfetti Van Melle.
Marketing
The Chupa Chups logo was designed in 1969 by the artist Salvador Dalí. Its first marketing campaign was the logo with the slogan "És rodó i dura molt, Chupa Chups", which translates from Catalan as "It's round and long-lasting". Later, celebrities like Madonna were hired to advertise. In the 1980s, owing to falling birth rates, an anti-smoking slogan "Smoke Chupa Chups" was tried to attract further adult consumers. The company's current anti-smoking slogan is "Stop smoking, start sucking", with their packages parodying cigarette pack designs, even going as far as to parodying the EU mandatory black and white warning labels with the notice "Sucking does not kill."
Products
Chupa Chups have a vast array of products with their standard lollipop the most renowned. In terms of flavour, both apple and orange are close contenders for number 1 coming in at 1 and 2 respectively. Other flavours include cola and strawberry.