«During 2019 we have achieved a sustained reduction of 10% in plastic»
Frit Ravich is a family business founded in 1963 by Josep Maria Viader, current president, and run since 1997 by his daughter Judith Viader. They are manufacturers of potato chips, snacks and nuts with their own brand (800 references), in addition to distributing other well-known external brands. Frit Ravich has had a sustained growth of 3% in the last 5 years; closed 2018 with a turnover of 235,6 million euros.
Frit Ravich is a family business founded in 1963, manufacturers of potato chips, snacks and nuts. What are your goals with your own brand?
Our main objective is to be able to consolidate the Frit Ravich brand as a benchmark within the category, for this we have to improve brand recognition under the values of quality and innovation.
What are the best-selling references?
Our Top 1 reference is Homemade potatoes, the flagship of Frit Ravich. All the ingredients that we use for the manufacture of our Homemade potatoes are of national origin, they are made with extra virgin olive oil and cooked in a traditional style pan. This January we have relaunched the new pack, where we want to highlight the attributes of the brand and emphasize the tradition and quality of the ingredients, as well as the fact that we are one of the few that uses Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Secondly, we find our brand Cocteleo, a range made up of 11 varieties of mixed nuts, both raw, roasted or fried. It is a key brand for the company, ideal for snacking, either between meals or sharing a good time with your loved ones. Our range of Top Corn popcorn and our range of Premium Potatoes are also among the Top 10 best-selling references. We are constantly working to innovate our product, which is why we recently launched the Top Corn Unicornio, a mix of sweet, salty and bubble gum popcorn with a pack combining white and pastel colors. In the case of Premium, we have recently launched the Premium Sirloin with Pedro Ximénez reduction, where we bet on a salty and delicately sweet combination that will not fail in the best appetizers.
What other brands do you distribute?
Thanks to our capillarity, we reach more than 50.000 points of sale on a regular basis, we are one of the leading distributors within the impulse and hospitality channel, hence we like to work with leading brands in the sector such as Mars, Ferrero, Mondelez, Haribo, Chupa Chups, Kellogg's, RedBull, Nestlé, Lacasa, Fini, Coreysa, Adam Foods and Delta, among others.
What trends do you see in the snacks sector? Healthier products, bio ...?
The world of potatoes, snacks and nuts is very innovative and daring. The consumer is increasingly open to trying new experiences, textures and flavors. The young audience is very adventurous and with a more experienced palate, which helps to look for trends from other cultures such as new unknown flavors to feed the traveling spirit. They even dare to try insect snacks, making the experience of consuming a snack can be transformed into a trip to another place. The dried fruit market is experiencing high growth thanks to the new trends adopted in recent years related to the consumption of foods that provide properties, benefits and nutritional values. That is why the category of nuts is making a clear commitment to unsalted, organic and baked products, but the most classic nuts such as walnuts, almonds or dates also continue to grow.
In 2019 we launched a range of Ecological Nuts with 100% compostable packaging. The objective was to launch a range of organically grown nuts that responded to the needs of our consumers and, for this, it was essential to make a proposal that was coherent, both in content and in container: our nuts are grown using ecological techniques and our containers are 100% compostable plastic to protect the environment.
Food, in our culture, continues to play a socializing role. Currently the aperitif moment is an upward trend, thus increasing the consumption of potato chips, snacks and nuts. The fact of opening a bag of these products can become the perfect moment to share with yours. At Frit Ravich we think that the sum of good times is real happiness. But the trend that stands out above all is the 'convenience'. People currently live at a fast pace and spend a lot of time away from home, which demands practicality, comfort and more functionality to be able to enjoy a good time, when you want, how you want and with who you want.
¿What do you want to convey with the packaging of your products?
The pack is always a big challenge for the marketing and design team. Attracting the public in such a saturated market is quite complicated, that is why it is important that we invest in the communication that we carry out in the pack to be able to help in the purchase decision. In the same space we must communicate the essence of the brand and what we believe in, which is also reflected in the product it contains. For example, as we mentioned, the launch of 100% compostable organic nuts is a pioneering and incipient case in the market for the development and use of more sustainable materials. The plastic of the container is distinguished from the conventional one by the origin of the raw material, which in this case is of vegetable origin. Its process of degradation and return to the environment passes through the organic waste container, which, after an industrial composting process, allows it to return to nature. The packaging has been awarded for the best food packaging by the Liderpack 2019 Awards, the contest organized by the Graphispack Association and the Hispack show at Fira de Barcelona. The Liderpack look for innovative containers and packaging aimed at the final consumer and industrial sectors or for use in transport and logistics operations.
Do you usually make promotional packs or limited editions?
Every year we carry out different promotional actions, directly related to the product or the moment of consumption. Normally these actions are with a direct gift to the final consumer. As for limited editions, for example, at Christmas, chocolate nuts are a perfect match. That is why every year we launch a limited edition of our Cocteleo range, a mixture of nuts that during this time we add chocolate, ideal to share at Christmas meals with your loved ones.
We also launched tubs with products such as chocolate covered blueberries, fried peanuts with honey, caramelised peeled pipe or cocoa beans. In addition, we like to give a Christmas touch to some of our packs, as we do for example with the Top Corn Saladas and the Top Corn Colores, adding the 3 Wise Men or the Santa Claus.
What is "profitable growth"?
Frit Ravich has had a sustained growth of 3% in the last 5 years and we have reached 235,6 million euros in turnover. When we talk about profitable growth, we mean maintaining this growth together with a scalable and sustainable evolution that takes into account the complexity of the business, its infrastructures and people.
What measures are you implementing in favor of sustainability? Have they managed to reduce the consumption of plastics?
So is. It all started in 2018, when we decided to undertake a study to analyze where we could reduce the plastic we used to protect our products. We wondered if we could reduce the weight and thickness of the plastics used, if we could optimize the measurements of the bags and / or change the type of flexible material for a more sustainable one, among many other variables. During 2019 we have achieved a sustained reduction of 10% of the plastic used in 290 products, which is equivalent to an annual decrease in plastic consumption of 18 tons. Innovation has also led us to create 100% compostable packaging, understanding that packaging plays a key role in protecting the product and its quality is a priority.
What are your goals in this regard?
The main objectives we have in terms of flexible plastic packaging are focused on reducing and replacing the plastics in our current packaging with plastics that are ready to be recycled easily or other non-plastic materials. If we focus on short-term objectives, during this year 2020, we plan to go one step further and apply the same plastic reduction initiative to the rest of the products manufactured by Frit Ravich. This means that in 2025 we will be able to do without 108 tons of plastic. We are currently analyzing alternatives and their life cycle to replace the plastics in our products. Our goal is to have a higher performance in recycling or that are directly made of other non-plastic materials.
What novelties do you plan to launch this year?
Surprising the consumer in such a saturated market is always a challenge, for this reason, in 2020, our goal is to work to continue innovating and launching new products with which we are able to draw attention to our current and potential consumer.
