S W E E T I N N O V A T I O N

Perfetti Van Melle continues legacy of confections, industry ingenuity in Erlanger

By Tabari McCoy , Scooter Media

MENTOS MINTS … FRUIT-TELLA CHEWY CANDIES… CHUPA Chups lollipops … And of course, Airheads. They are all creations of the same company: Perfetti Van Melle, the international confections creator for whom Erlanger is home to its largest North American facility. The company has grown exponentially since Izaak Van Melle founded a small confection business in his grandfather’s bakery in the Netherlands in 1900, its merger with Italian company Perfetti in 2001 solidifying its industry status.

How does the world’s second-largest manufacturer of candy, gum and mints create all those sweet treats? The company has the process down to a science – a process which Sylvia Buxton, Perfetti’s North American President and CEO, says explains the magic of innovation at the company.

“At Perfetti, we use a tool called HBDI (Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument) which measures people’s thinking styles and preferences. This helps us to assemble diverse work teams that have a ‘whole brain’ approach to solving problems, and we use a technique called ‘walking around the brain’ to think about any problem or idea from many perspectives,” says Buxton. “Once we have a range of ideas, the next step is to narrow those down with the help of consumer research, starting first with initial drawings of the ideas and simple concept statements. The ideas that rise to the top then go into our labs so our fantastic food scientists can begin to create benchtop (prototype) versions of the new products.”

If you’re wondering what life is like at one of the world’s leading confections companies, innovation can be very sweet indeed.

Candy Reign

“Innovative Treats. Better Future.” Those four words compose Perfetti’s purpose statement, a statement that Buxton says anchors and guides the company in all aspects, including innovation. Airheads, the chewy, sweet, texture-heavy candy available as bars, belts and in bitesize pieces, are a perfect case study.

Created by Erlanger’s Research and Development (R&D) lab in 1985, Perfetti now cranks out four million Airheads daily with new flavors and pack formats having been added to the lineup over the years. Airheads have helped Perfetti triple its USA sales over the last seven years, which Buxton says has enabled the company to replace “highly repetitive” jobs with higher-paying skilled operator and maintenance positions in a continually growing workforce.

While Buxton acknowledges Perfetti’s products are “the most visible part” of its work, its behind-the-scenes efforts are where innovation is most important to the company’s success. This includes things such as e-commerce, digital marketing and progressive manufacturing solutions like keeping up with ways to reach consumers through social media, gaming and ongoing partnerships like its tie-in with Paramount Pictures’ "Transformers" franchise.

“Airheads and Xtremes packages featuring characters from 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' are now in stores, and we are doing digital and social video ads featuring the movie and our products,” says Buxton. “Innovative partnerships like this help us keep our brands relevant and top-of-mind with our core consumers.”