Ritter Sport’s UK division records best-ever annual performance amid wider company growth
Benedict Daniels, UK MD of Ritter Sport welcomed a record performance from the company's UK division in 2024. Pic: Ritter
Ritter Sport UK has marked a strong financial performance for its British operations, recording its largest level of growth, up 50% year-on-year, as the wider business marks an upturn in its results, reports Neill Barston.
The German-headquartered premium chocolate business has secured group-wide turnover of €605 million for 2024, up over 7% which came despite sustained pressure on cocoa supply chains that the company noted had continued to impact the sector.
As for its British interests, the company has continued on a programme of key general retail releases, as well as travel retail promotions that have boosted its visibility and created enhanced brand awareness.
Though the company’s full results are not available publicly, the company stated that its UK team had secured its best performance since the division was created in 2014, off the back of a record breaking performance in 2023.
In addition, it attributed its growth to record sales across stores including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, as well as Ocado. The success is driven by the core block product portfolio and new innovations such as Amicelli and Ritter Sport DUO, reflecting the brand’s commitment to meeting evolving consumer preferences.
While the business acknowledged ongoing issues within supply chains, namely the elevated prices of cocoa (which was last month up to around $12,000 on Futures markets in the US and UK), it has proceeded with strategic initiatives.
These have included delivering key marketing campaigns, as well as expanding range and distribution, through delivering greater distribution and shelf space within the grocery multiples, as well as making notable improvements to its team capacity and capability through investment in its targeted recruitment and infrastructure expansion. The company was also well received as previously playing a part as being among speakers at our World Confectionery Conference in 2023.
Crucially, it has retained a core focus on sustainable sourcing – which is highly valued by consumers. This comes despite what it described as severe impact of two destructive hurricanes at the company’s owned cocoa farm in Nicaragua, El Cacao. Consequently, it is continuing its commitment to ethical production and direct cocoa sourcing.
This was recently reaffirmed at the Choco Tec event in Cologne in December, where Confectionery Production recently attended a presentation from Ritter’s Hauke Will, who revealed that the development of its flagship cocoa plantation had been especially inspiring to the local population employed on the site, who felt invested in its future in spite of operational challenges there.
As for its British market, the company’s new headquarters further signals its commitment to the UK market. Designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and engagement with domestic and international colleagues and trade partners across the UK and Ireland, the office reflects Ritter Sport’s forward-looking vision as it continues to build on its legacy of quality, innovation, and sustainability.
Reflecting on the decade of growth under his leadership, Managing Director, Benedict Daniels, commented: “I am deeply committed to supporting our team in delivering the continued growth of our brands in the UK and Ireland. The strategic key to success lays in our ability to reach ever more consumers across the UK and Ireland.
“Our culture of value creation in partnership with our customers, combined with our gold standard innovation pipeline underpins this strategic ethos and drives our growth. We will continue to accelerate our growth in both all-year-round and seasonal segments, effectively leveraging our brand equity, unmatched quality and sustainability credentials to ensure our customers and consumers can continue, or start, their love affair with the square.”
He added: “The UK and Ireland are consistently markets with the highest chocolate consumption per capita, affording Ritter Sport huge room for accelerated growth. With our fantastic new headquarters, our expansion partnership with DHL, full backing from the Ritter family, and a product portfolio envied the world over, we are in an incredibly strong position.”
