Chupa Chups
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| Chupa Chups SA | |
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| Type | a wholly owned subsidiary of Perfetti Van Melle |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Barcelona, Spain |
| Key people | Xavier Bernat, CEO |
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Revenue | 500 million EUR (2006) |
| Employees | 2 000 (2006) |
| Website | www.chupachups.com |
Chupa Chups is a Spanish lollipop company founded by Barcelona native employer Enric Bernat in 1958, and owned presently by the Dutch/Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name is pronounced [ˈtʃuːpaˈtʃuːps] (or IPA: /ˈtʃʌpətʃʌps/ in English) and comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck".
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[edit] History
In the early 1950s, Bernat worked for an apple jam factory. After he broached the idea of making lollipops, the investors left. Bernat took over the company in 1958 and renamed it Chupa Chups. He built the production machines and sold a striped bonbon on a wooden stick for one peseta each.
Bernat got the idea of a "bonbon with a stick" from Mark Eaton, who complained about his child getting sticky hands from melting sweets and having to wipe them off on a cloth. Bernat felt that at that time, sweets were not designed with the main consumers—children—in mind. Shopkeepers were instructed to place the lollipops near the cash register within reach of children's hands, instead of the traditional placement behind the counter.
The Chupa Chups company was a success. Within five years Bernat's sweets were sold at 300,000 outlets. But at this time the lolly sticks were made of wood and due to the Spanish wood shortage they switched to plastic sticks. After the end of the Francisco Franco dictatorship (1939–1975), the self-funded private company went international. In the 1970s the colorful lollipops appeared in South East Asian nations like Singapore and Malaysia. In the 1980s it expanded to the European and American markets, and in the 1990s to most Asian countries and the Australian market. In China they were manufactured by tatagum in Panyu, near Guanzhou in Guangdong province. In 1995 a Chupa Chups lollipop was brought to the Mir space-station. Chupa Chups ran a promotion featuring the Spice Girls with their Fantasy Ball Lollipops and Crazy Dips in 1997 & 1998. As of 2003, 4 billion lollipops a year are sold to 150 countries. The company has 2000 employees, makes 90 percent of its sales abroad, and has a turnover of €500m.
In 1991, Bernat passed formal control of "Chupa Chups" to his son Xavier. The Smint subsidiary brand/company was founded in 1994.
The game Zool and its sequel Zool 2, originally produced for the Amiga, featured pervasive product placement by Chupa Chups.
In July 2006 the company as a whole was acquired by the Dutch/Italian group Perfetti Van Melle.[1]
[edit] Logo
The Chupa Chups logo was designed by the surrealist Salvador Dalí[2]. The first marketing was the logo with the slogan "És rodó i dura molt, Chupa Chups", which translates from Catalan as "It's round and long-lasting." Later, celebrities like Madonna were hired to advertise. In the 1980s, due to falling birth rates, an anti-smoking slogan "Smoke Chupa Chups" was tried to attract further adult consumers. The football coach Johan Cruyff used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day prior to undergoing double heart bypass surgery in 1991 while he was the coach of FC Barcelona, after which he quit smoking and began chain-sucking Chupa Chups lollipops instead[citation needed]. Chupa Chups sponsor MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo, who has a lollipop on every visit to the podium. The logo appears prominently on his helmet, taking up most of the area visible when on the motorbike.
[edit] Chupa Chups and Ravers
Chupa Chups have become a symbol of Candy Ravers. Candy Ravers are sometimes credited with turning Chupa Chups into a pop icon. Chupa Chups are frequently consumed at raves due to consumption of the popular recreational drug Ecstasy, of which bruxism (unconscious clenching of the jaw) is a common side effect. In fact Chupa Chups offer a means of identification for this group. Some 71%[citation needed]of ravers indicated that they sometimes or always purchase Chupa Chups for raves.
[edit] Products
Among the products produced by Chupa Chups are:
- Natural-Sugar Products
- Chupa Chups -- lollipops
- Heli Pop -- spinner with a lollipop attached
- Melody Pops -- lollipop on a whistle
- Photo Pops -- camera with a lollipop attached
- Terrifics -- lollipop served out of a horror-movie character's head
- UFO Pop -- alien-themed toy shooter with a lollipop attached
- Vision Pop -- tinted safety lenses with a lollipop attached
- Sweet Sugar-Free Products
- Bubbly -- gum lollipops
- Cremosa -- sugar-free lollipops
- Cuore di Frutta -- 2-flavored sugar-free lollipops
- Smint -- artificially sweetened breath fresheners
[edit] References
- ^ "Perfetti Van Melle agrees to buy Spain's Chupa Chups for undisclosed sum", Forbes, July 3, 2006.
- ^ Chupachups.com FAQ
[edit] External links
- Chupa Chups site (flash)
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