Nestle pushes for premium with new R&D centre

The company said it decided to build the new Chocolate Centre of Excellence as it sees luxury and premium products as "one of the key strategic areas with above-average growth and profit potential over the coming years." ​​In a statement, Nestle said it hopes to bring together a variety of professionals at the site to work on the development of new product lines, including sensory experts and packaging designers. The company also said it will also work with Belgian luxury chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, with whom Nestle first entered into a partnership in December. However, the company could not provide ConfectioneryNews.com with any more information in time for publication. The new R&D centre will not be Nestle's first foray into the premium and dark chocolate world, as the firm already has a number of product ranges on the market, such as Baci and Nestle Noir. The firm also decided to re-write its Black Magic recipes last August, to make the older dark chocolate line seem more appealing to a modern audience. The products include a dark chocolate collection, dark discovery bars and black magic tablet bars, and Nestle said at the time it plans to package the products in a way to reflect its luxury content. In December last year, Nestle attributed a 5.4 per cent increase in sales for the first nine months of the 2007 tax year to the growing trend for premium dark chocolate bars such as Nestle Noir and Perugina Nero. Out of the total food market, premium and luxury lines now make up 25 per cent, according to analysts from Packaged Facts.