WHEN Nestlé Bulgaria celebrated its 11th anniversary in July, it had obtained the status of the country’s largest food company in terms of sales and profitability, Managing Director Yannis Lazaridis told the Sofia Echo.  
The Bulgarian subsidiary of the Swiss-originating giant managed to triple its sales in the 2000-2004 period and continued to grow in the first half of 2005 by 32 per cent. Currently Nestlé Bulgaria controls 62 per cent of the market’s culinary segment with its Maggi products, 65 per cent of the breakfast cereal sector and 49 per cent of the cocoa beverages sector.
Nestlé’s greatest prize brand is Nescafé, which has obtained 80 per cent of the soluble coffee sector.
It also has a 20 per cent share of boxed chocolates and chocolate bars, making it second in the country. 
Lazaridis said that the company has been extremely successful for several reasons but mainly because it has managed to introduce and maintain a consumer-driven business model.
The desire to win and keep customers – distributors, supermarkets, hotels, shopkeepers and final consumers – is a part of the company’s global philosophy. Naturally, all these customers have very different requirements. Trade customers expect excellent service, accurate information and timely delivery. Consumers consider taste, safety, appearance and price when they make their choice.
Nestlé’s task is to understand what customers want and respond to their expectations rapidly and effectively, Lazaridis said. He singles out Nestlé Bulgaria’s efforts toward expanding and developing its distribution network. Surveys have shown that Nestlé has more than 90 per cent weighted distribution, meaning that its products are sold virtually everywhere in the country.
“We even managed to develop distribution channels beyond the traditional ones for our products by adding establishments like green grocery shops and butcher shops for our Maggi products, as well as entertainment parks, schools and others for our confectionery,” he said.
The company’s new product, Maggi Little Secrets – fixes for chicken Kavarma, stuffed peppers with minced meat – represents Nestlé’s local approach. The product has been registering rising sales since it was created last year. Lazaridis said that Maggi Little Secrets are based on traditional Bulgarian recipes and this makes them attractive for consumers.
Nestlé Bulgaria’s greatest challenge is marketing breakfast cereal, which has never been a traditional food in the country. Yet, with an advertising campaign, cereals are becoming more popular in Bulgaria and are currently registering a 30 per cent growth in sales.
To win more consumers, Nestlé Bulgaria also puts a high stake on constantly launching new products. Lazaridis says the local production and sales of the new Nestlé Kit Kat and Nestlé Lion chocolate bars will begin in September. Nestlé Kit Kat Chunky is already manufactured in Bulgaria, not only for the local market but also for Central Europe and several Western markets.
Nestlé will also launch a new dark-chocolate variety of the LZ chocolate bars. Imported chocolate bars from Switzerland with the Nestlé brand are expected to hit Bulgarian shops this autumn.
“The four-year unhampered growth of Nestlé Bulgaria can also be attributed to the drastic improvement of the quality of our products, especially in the confectionery segment,” Lazaridis said. Nestlé said that in today’s competitive world a company must never forget that customers have a choice. If they are not satisfied with a Nestlé product, they will switch to another brand.
The dedication, enthusiasm, commitment and passion of Nestlé Bulgaria’s personnel to win are other important ingredients for the company’s success, Lazaridis said. Nestlé motivates employees by demonstrating a commitment to quality on the management level, by setting challenging goals and by giving employees responsibility and recognition. It is through employee involvement that goals and targets can be achieved in the shortest time.
Nestlé Bulgaria runs a special career programme, which it considers crucial to finding and keeping the best employees possible. As part of the programme, Nestlé invites university graduates with the mentality and culture for success. “Once we find the best young people for the job, we train them on-the-job and send some of them for training abroad with the simple goal of helping them to undertake responsibilities and risks early-on,” Lazaridis said.
However, it is not only the career programme that represents Nestlé Bulgaria’s image as a corporate citizen. Quite recently, the company had the chance to prove that it is highly involved with Bulgaria’s social problems.
In early July, Nestlé donated 20 tons of food through the Bulgarian Red Cross for regions in North-Eastern Bulgaria that were devastated by torrential rains and floods. With this humanitarian initiative, the largest food company in Bulgaria joined the community’s effort to help disaster areas.