Pladis
Pladis is a global biscuit, chocolate and confectionery company owned by Yildiz Holding, the largest food company in the CEEMEA region.
Pladis was established in January 2016 when Yildiz Holding brought together United Biscuits, Ulker, Godiva Chocolatier and DeMet’s Candy Company as one global business.
Pladis has annual revenues of USD $5.2 billion [1] and operates in 120 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The company has 34 factories in 13 countries and its products reach approximately 4 billion people worldwide.
Pladis is a global biscuits and confectionery company which operates in all five categories of chocolate, biscuits, cake, candy and gum.[2]
The pladis name was inspired by the Pleiades constellation, a group of seven stars visible from anywhere on earth.
Operations
Leadership team
- Murat Ülker is the chairman of Yildiz Holding and Pladis, and is a second generation executive of the Ulker family business. He joined Yildiz Holding in 1984, founding and leading various businesses , before succeeding his father, Sabri. In 2000, he assumed the role of CEO of Yildiz Holding serving until 2008 when he also became chairman.
- Cem Karakaş is CEO of Pladis and has held several senior executive roles at Yildiz Holding, its parent company. He is an executive board member at Godiva Chocolatier and has held board level roles at DeMet’s Candy Company and United Biscuits, both acquired by Yildiz Holding in 2014.
Brands
- Ülker
Ülker is a major Turkish manufacturer of food products, which are exported internationally, to over 120 countries. Its core products include biscuits, confectionery, edible oils and breakfast items. Today Ülker has 5,400 products in 41 different categories with 300 sub brands.
Ulker was founded by Sabri and Asim Ulker, two brothers whose parents immigrated to Turkey from Crimea. They started a small bakery where they created the first Potibor (petit beurre) biscuits and the business has grown to 83 factories around the world.
Today, Ülker is still a flagship brand within Yildiz Holding and a leader brand in Turkey.
The business has grown to have a major presence in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
- McVitie’s
McVitie's is a leading snack food brand in the UK and Europe. It became part of Yildiz Holding in November 2014 when the company acquired United Biscuits. McVitie’s is sold in over 130 countries and has retail sales of USD $1 billion globally.
In the UK the biscuit market is worth over £2.7 billion.[3] McVitie’s is the market leader in the UK and a top 5 UK Food Brand. The brand is best-known for the UK’s favourite biscuit, the McVitie’s Chocolate Digestive.
In 1830 apprentice baker Robert McVitie and his father William opened a ‘provision’ shop in Rose Street, Edinburgh. Robert’s baking was so popular the business quickly grew and as his sons and new business partners joined the company, more shops were established and the first factory was opened in 1888.[4]
McVitie’s has a significant royal heritage. In 1893 the company was asked to bake the future Queen Mary and King George V’s wedding cake. The company also made the wedding cake for Princess Elizabeth and Sir Philip Mountbatten in 1947, while Prince William chose a groom’s cake for his wedding reception, made from 1,700 McVitie’s Rich Tea biscuits and 17 kg of chocolate.[5]
The Digestive Biscuit was created in 1892 and is still made today using the same secret recipe. Over 71 million packets of McVitie's chocolate digestives are eaten in the United Kingdom each year: an average of 52 biscuits per second.[6]
- Godiva
Godiva Chocolatier is a manufacturer of premium chocolates and related products. Godiva was founded in Belgium in 1926 by Pierre Draps and opened its first boutique in the Grand Place in Brussels named in honour of the legend of Lady Godiva.
The first shop outside Belgium was opened in Paris on the fashionable Rue Saint Honoré in 1958. Godiva is an official purveyor to the Royal Court in Belgium.
Today, Godiva is available in 19 countries and at the airports of +100 countries worldwide.
References
- ↑ "Godiva Sees Sales Exceeding $1 Billion as Snackmaker IPO Looms". Bloomberg. 2016-06-08.
- ↑ "Retail sales 2016".
- ↑ 52 w/e 2017 data to 28.01.17 for Nielsen Total Coverage plus 29.01.17 for Kantar Euro Discounters and Bargain Stores
- ↑ "McVitie's - About".
- ↑ "‘Recipes fit for a prince (or two): Chocolate biscuit cake’". 2015-05-03.
- ↑ Nielsen Total Coverage + Kantar Euro Discounters & Bargain Stores & Farmfoods Note for info: Chocolate Digestives in this definition is classified as core chocolate digestives and does not include flavours or variants.