First Regional Science & Technology Center for Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific

03/08/06 Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific today opened its first Regional Science & Technology (S&T) Center as part of its strategic plans to accelerate growth momentum in key emerging markets.
 
This new facility will be a center of excellence for gums and candy (sugar confectionery) development, and will compliment the existing network of regional and global Cadbury Schweppes science and technology facilities.

Rajiv Wahi, President of Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific said that the new center will focus on innovation to capture the growth potential of emerging markets in this region.

“Asia Pacific is a significant market for us. With a mix of developed and emerging market growth potential, the region will continue to deliver above average growth. In Asia Pacific, our investment in innovation will also be ramped up to open up new markets for us and increase our penetration in markets where we already have high value share.” Mr Wahi said.

The company’s focus on emerging markets is intense as they present tremendous opportunity for greater growth. The emerging markets of Asia demonstrated strong growth in the last year. The whole confectionery industry grew 8%, the candies category grew 7%, and the chewing gum category grew 10%. These are impressive numbers when compared with the average growth rate of barely 5% in developed markets.

The company’s growth rates are just as impressive. In 2005, Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific contributed 18% to Cadbury Schweppes group revenue. Mr Wahi commented, “We continue to drive towards lifting this share, in recognition of the enormous growth potential of this region.” Investment in innovation is a key growth driver for Cadbury Schweppes. The company’s long and successful track record in innovation has contributed to its leadership in the global confectionery industry.

The S$4.3 million, 920 square-metre innovation center in Jurong will house 10 global researchers who will focus their innovation on what will delight Asian consumers.

Each piece of great tasting candy or gum may take up to 70 ingredients to make. That translates to an enormous amount of technology, research and development going into every bite.

One recent example of great sugar innovation that will enhance the company’s market leadership and growth is Chocfuls. Chocfuls is a caramel candy with a hard shell and a soft chocolate center, developed for the Indian market. The key innovation breakthrough behind this story is the successful creation of a superior, high quality product that is truly affordable – at S$0.04 cents per piece.

In the same vein, the new Regional S&T Center will create breakthrough products that are of high quality and also highly affordable - ingredients for success in emerging markets. The Center’s functions will be to: develop innovative products in the gums and candy categories that will strongly appeal to consumers; explore new and emerging technologies that will enhance innovation for the above categories; and network with other research organisations internally and externally around the world to leverage the latest developments in these categories.