Cadbury sweets returning to Israel

British confectionary company considering re-entering Israeli chocolate market in 2012 after attempting to conquer significant share of chewing gum market with Trident

Shoshana Chen |Published: 12.12.10 , 14:30

British confectionery company Cadbury is considering re-entering the Israeli chocolate market through its representative, Globrands.

"We plan to focus on chewing gum in the coming year, but the chocolate will be introduced in 2012 and we'll set up a big distribution center in Modiin at a total investment of some NIS 18 million (about $% million)," revealed Globrands CEO Gadi Netzer.

Cadbury tried to enter the Israeli market in 2002, but was blocked aggressively by the Elite company. According to Netzer, "The company is not traumatized by the past. It looks at the Israeli market from a business perspective, and the gum test will prove it."

Globrands plans to invest some NIS 6 million ($1.65 million) in the coming year in an attempt to conquer a significant share of the Israeli gum market, which is controlled by the Wrigley company and led by the Orbit brand.

The Israeli chewing gum market generates some NIS 330 million. Wrigley controls 70% of the market, and the second biggest brand is Strauss' Must gum.

Cadbury's Trident gum entered Israel in May 2009, but despite its goal to conquer some 30% of the market, it only managed to capture 0.1%. Globrands' main obstacle was the kashrut issue. Cadbury's Turkish factory recently began manufacturing four types of gum and four types of sweets in kosher production lines.

The Cadbury gums will be sold in supermarkets and 10,000 marketing points where Globrands sells its cigarettes, and in 10 Burger Ranch stores as an initial pilot. The company is also in negotiations with the Hamashbir Lazarchan department store and the AM:PM chain of convenient stores.

The Wrigley company said in response that it welcomes any new competitor in the market.