Latest news with #Avolta
Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
How a Local Dubai Brand Conquered Major UK Airports: Le Damas Sweets Celebrates 1 Year of Its Dubai Chocolate
07/14/2025, Dubai, United Arab Emirates // PRODIGY: Feature Story // When Le Damas Sweets introduced its own Dubai Chocolate one year ago, this Dubai-based confectionery brand could have never predicted the growth and success that was about to unfold. Crafted in the heart of this Middle Eastern hub, Le Damas Dubai Chocolate combines Arabic tradition with a contemporary flair. It is that blend of local culture and expat vibrancy, enriched with a flavor that can't be resisted, that fueled this product's success story—from a small Dubai factory to a global sensation. When the Dubai Chocolate phenomenon first overtook the world, Le Damas joined this indulgent frenzy early on. But it was never merely about following trends; it was about elevating them. With this mindset, the product has grown rapidly and is available today across major airports worldwide. It's fair to say that Le Damas Sweets has conquered the UK. For instance, in partnership with Avolta, the leading global travel experience player, the brand has managed to launch at Heathrow Airport. This debut at the airport, along with its presence in Avolta's World Duty-Free stores at Terminals 3 and 5, including Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Stansted, where the brand quickly gained traction among international travelers seeking unique, high-quality gifts. Beyond the island, the product can also be found across UAE airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, and Sharjah, as well as in Cairo, Kuwait City, and Amman. What further propelled its expansion was Le Damas Sweets' social media finesse. By harnessing the power of social media stores, the company sold over 100,000 chocolates across TikTok Shop UK and is now ready to further its European expansion in Athens, Zurich, Milan, and Madrid later this year. Le Damas - Dubai Chocolate For this team of confectionery aficionados, meeting rising demand and scaling production wasn't challenging. An already established brand, Le Damas opened its local factory in 2014, refining it over the years to make processes more time- and cost-efficient. 'The growth that we achieved cannot be said without giving thanks to the UAE Government and the ease with which business can be conducted in Dubai,' says co-founder Saif Al Jaber. With operational capacity higher than many competing Dubai Chocolate brands, it comes as no surprise that Le Damas Sweets' impact is so tangible. Throughout this journey, the company has remained loyal to its commitment to quality. Despite the rising place of cheaper quality chocolate in the market, frequently utilized because of its lower cost, Le Damas produces Dubai Chocolate from the highest quality materials: the company enriches its product with ghee. With this, it elevates the flavor with nutty notes. It's important to note that Le Damas traces back as far as 1951 when a team of Syrian artisans created the brand in the heart of Damascus. When they moved to Dubai in 2014, they carried that legacy of taste, treats, and tradition forward. This is especially valuable since the Dubai Chocolate is unique because of Kunafa, a time-honored Arabic pastry dough. Looking into the future, Le Damas shares exciting plans for further expansions, starting with exciting news coming soon from Casablanca, Morocco. As Le Damas celebrates one year of impact and indulgence, Al Jaber shares: 'It all started from a single moment, from one decision to take a leap of faith. We already had a factory and thought, 'Why not give it a shot?' And I suppose, with a blend of quality, Arabic tradition, and vibrant packaging, we did everything right.' Media Contact Name: Emna Ben Email: [email protected]
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Avolta Grows Retail Footprint As Per-Head Spending Lags Traffic Growth
Xavier Rossinyol: 'We are convinced that a high level of geographical diversification is key ... More for the resilience of the group.' A presentation from the world's biggest travel retailer, Avolta, has highlighted a negative trend in the global travel retail market: growth in spend per passenger (SPP) is not keeping up with the number of travelers taking to the skies—with duty-free store owners and their airport landlords still not doing enough to reverse the trend. Avolta—whose revenue hit 13.5 billion Swiss francs ($15.3 billion), up by 6.4% last year—held a Capital Markets Day on Thursday in Barcelona for the first time in three years. The company, whose brands include Autogrill, HMSHost, and Hudson, shared that while like-for-like growth between 2023 and 2025 was 4-5%, SPP only rose by 2-3%. Particularly hard hit have been product categories such as alcohol and watches/jewelry, both currently in negative territory. From 2022, a Covid-19 bounce-back year when SPP jumped by 17%, it fell to 5% in 2023, and 3.2% last year. The first quarter of 2025 was stable, but not great, at 3%. This compares to airline association IATA data showing passenger growth rates over those same three years as 64%, 37%, and 10% respectively, where 2024 was 3.8% above pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Airports are where Avolta derives more than 80% of its revenue. Key nationalities impacting global SPP Part of the negative impact of lower SPP growth has come from fewer high-spending Russian and Chinese passengers traveling globally due to sanctions and post-Covid caution, respectively. Duty-free retailers reliant on these nationalities have seen their SPPs decreasing, Importantly, about one-third (34.4% currently) of Avolta's like-for-like growth comes from SPP, and two-thirds from passenger growth. It therefore makes more sense to expand into new travel locations which is exactly what has been happening in recent years: for example, in the United States at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and elsewhere. At the presentation, Xavier Rossinyol, CEO of Avolta, said: 'We are at the mid-point of the strategic plan, Destination 2027, that we presented to the equity markets in September 2022. We are convinced that a high level of geographical diversification is key to the resilience of the group. We are growing with new concessions and new countries in every one of our four regions.' Between 2022 and 2024, Avolta also secured contract renewals at a high rate of 95%. Airport landlords' concerns are not necessarily the same as retailers but Avolta's scale and data sharing approach is yielding results in the way it has managed to retain business with relative ease. Airport operators are also hyper-focused on their customer experience ratings, and retail is one of the most visible and tangible aspects of this for a passenger. Avolta makes headway in Denmark The latest win for Avolta has been in Denmark, where it has just been awarded a five-year food and beverage (F&B) contract in Copenhagen Airport's Terminal 3 expansion covering five new units. The retailer has been at the airport—which processed 30 million passengers last year, still marginally below 2019—for nearly 20 years and currently operates five units including Copenhagen Coffee Lab, Neighbourhood Pizza, and Burger King. Avolta has added new retail space at Copenhagen Airport's T3 extension. Switzerland-based Avolta is an industry bellwether. By revenue, the company was almost double the size of its nearest rival last year and it is also one of just two (the other being Lagardère Travel Retail (LTR), which is now in a leadership transition phase), that operates across the main travel spheres: airport, trains, cruises/ports, downtown, and highways. The company left out borders, also a key channel, in its assessment. The next nearest travel retailer is China's CTG Duty Free Group which has seen declining revenue in recent years. In 2024, sales fell to 56.5 billion Chinese Yuan, or about $7.9 billion in 2024 (based on last year's average FX rate). France's LTR ranks third at $6.1 billion, but grew faster than its Swiss rival last year. Avolta has managed to strengthen its balance sheet and cut costs to build better foundations for its future. Yves Gerster, CFO of Avolta, noted: 'Avolta has a compelling equity story that combines resilience, growth, and long-term value creation.' However, as before Covid, the company is likely over-reliant on growth in global passenger traffic—another pandemic would be devastating for it and a still fragmented global industry. The Role of Data and Loyalty in Driving SPP The Gen Y and Gen Z cohorts are now in the majority, and growing. Spend per passenger, despite being another big growth driver, seems less of a priority versus new locations—something every big travel retailer is also looking at—despite the brag from Avolta that SPP 'is increasing thanks to the company's sharpened commercial focus.' But when it is growing at only half the rate of traffic growth this is not a win, even if competitors may not be doing as well. Naturally, the drive to add more market share is enticing, and Rossinyol is lured by a huge untapped traveler market and the buoyant future forecasts for passengers. For example, airports association ACI says numbers will exceed 12 billion in 2030, up from 9.5 billion last year. To his credit, Rossinyol is now heavily pushing the data side of the business and has revamped the loyalty scheme Club Avolta for this purpose and to drive SPP. As the largest duty-free retailer 'we have the possibility to access more data than anybody in the industry.' He added: 'Are we doing everything we should be doing? No,' he admitted. 'We are still at an early stage… but we are much better placed today than three years ago.' With Gen Y and Gen Z accounting for more than 60% of travelers, comparing prices is very much the norm because a good price still remains a top priority for them, and other travelers, at airports according to Avolta's data. So SPP will continue to fall if duty-free operators don't address this and/or can't meaningfully engage with them on other levels such as local sourcing, product heritage and authenticity, as well as value. At the meeting, Avolta reaffirmed its medium-term outlook of organic growth at between 5% and 7%, with core Ebitda margin improvements of 20-40bps. More stories and information about Avolta can be found by following this link.
Forbes
04-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Avolta And Lagardère Build Out Their Latin American Retail Portfolios
Rival European travel retailers, Avolta and Lagardère Travel Retail (LTR) have made in-roads into the Latin American airport retail market, in Mexico and Peru respectively. Paris-based, LTR has revealed a large retail offer in the new terminal of Peru's main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport, which is operated by Lima Airport Partners. In total, the travel retailer has inaugurated more than 43,000 square feet of store space, plus a dining area covering 35,500 square feet branded Nación Sazón – The Land of Flavours which Lagardère describes as 'Latin America's newest and freshest hub for local cuisine.' Meanwhile, Switzerland-based Avolta, has won a new five-year contract at Guadalajara Airport in Mexico allowing it to expand its retail operations there to cover around 13,000 square feet which includes the opening of two new stores. LTR's new commercial spaces in Lima, follow two years of construction at the airport which, last year, was the fifth busiest airport in Latin America processing 24.5 million passengers, up by 15%. The strong rebound topped the 2019 record of 23.6 million, though this is mainly thanks to the high level of domestic air travel; international numbers are still about 6% off 2019. Lima Airport Partners—80.01% owned by Germany's Fraport and 19.99% by the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group)—wanted a strong focus on gastronomy to appeal to lucrative transfer passengers in particular, whose share of travelers remains below pre-Covid levels. Nación Sazón which houses the food and beverage (F&B) offer features 13 units, including nine leading Peruvian brands that exemplify the country's rich culinary heritage. Among them are exclusive concepts developed with two of South America's most celebrated chefs. They are the blended Japanese and Peruvian SAKAI by Mitsuharu Tsumura, chef at Maido ranked fifth among The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, and the seafood-inspired CALLAO by Jaime Pesaque, chef at Mayta, ranked 41st. Other chef-led concepts include creole cuisine from José del Castillo at Las Reyes by Isolina, gourmet burgers by Javier Miyasato at Burger Boy, and barbecue chicken from Mitsuharu Tsumura at TORI. Cyril Letocart, CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail Peru said: 'Nación Sazón is a true gastronomic hub that brings Peru's unique cuisine to the world. We have put our heart and soul into this project and are very proud of the results.' Referring to the project as a whole he added: 'We have built what we believe is Latin America's new benchmark for travel retail and airport dining.' The departure retail space features El Mixólogo, a cocktail and tapas bar where passengers can also purchase local labels to take home. Lagardère has also added a VIP room in the main duty-free shop to serve high spenders. The store design pays tribute to Peru's landscapes from the coasts and highlands to the Amazonian forests and Andes mountains. Lagardère Travel Retail is making a big investment in Lima. It launched there in 2021 with 80 employees, but this latest expansion will grow that number to over 750 by this summer. In terms of international passengers, the retailer could well be serving a large number of Spaniards and Americans. Among the strongest recoveries last year (versus 2019) were from Madrid (up 133%) and Miami (up 137%). The two destinations accounted for 19% of international traffic. Further north in Mexico, Avolta's new five-year contract at Guadalajara Airport—at the heart of the country's main tequila producing region—will enable the retailer to fully renovate its three existing stores and open two new ones. Mexico is a big market for the airport retailer; with more than 80 stores across Mexico City, Cancun, Monterrey as well as Guadalajara. Guadalajara is the third busiest airport in the country and is operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP). It processed almost 18 million passengers last year. The gateway continued to grow, unlike its larger counterparts, Mexico City and Cancun, where traffic fell by about 6%. Susana Romero, commercial director at GAP, described Avolta as one of the most important stakeholders in Guadalajara Airport, and added: 'As part of our effort to maximize revenue from commercial activities and meet passenger expectations, GAP expanded and redesigned the airport terminal to accommodate more general specialty retail, duty-free shopping and F&B. The passenger flow was also redirected to increasing exposure to the new commercial areas.'
Fashion Network
20-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Mondottica takes Ted Baker eyewear into ready-readers category
The label continues to expand under its still-relatively-new owner Authentic Brands Group with various license-holders adding to its categories. And as we know, eyewear is one of the most important categories for fashion labels with Ted Baker having now taken a new step in this area. Premium eyewear brand partner and design specialist Mondottica Group is entering a new eyewear category with the brand via its new Ready Readers. The company said this is 'a sophisticated addition to the reading glasses eyewear category, injecting Ted Baker's fashion-led style and renowned quality'. Designed specifically for eyes that struggle to see things clearly close-up, due to an age-related condition called presbyopia, Ted Baker Ready Readers are a premium addition to the growing optical category. The line launches with six models — three styles with an option of a sunglass or optical lens, and available in four strengths from +1.5 through to +3.0. The three styles include a women's cat-eye shape, men's round frame with pantos bridge and a unisex rounded square frame. Signature Ted Baker T's complete the temple tips and brown lenses are included in the sun styles. The British brand's famous florals prints and renowned twists of colour also make the pieces instantly recognisable. They're currently available in duty free locations at nine UK airports through Avolta.
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Avolta posts higher quarterly sales growth, shrugs off North America slowdown
May 15 (Reuters) - Swiss travel retailer Avolta (AVOL.S), opens new tab posted a 5.3% organic increase in first-quarter turnover on Thursday, driven by its diversified business structure, despite headwinds in North America from lower traffic volumes earlier in the year. The Basel-based company also confirmed its full-year outlook and mid-term targets. The company, which runs shops at airports, on cruise liners, in seaports, and other tourist locations worldwide, posted a core turnover of 3.05 billion Swiss francs ($3.63 billion) for the reported quarter, up from 2.78 billion francs a year earlier. Avolta's stock has climbed 23% since the start of the year, fuelled by investor confidence in its strategic diversification across various channels and regions, particularly amid uncertainty in the U.S. travel market. Amid Avolta's growth momentum, U.S. consumer confidence recorded its sharpest drop in nearly five years this April, marking the sixth straight monthly decline. This downward trend has been compounded by persistently high inflation and mounting concerns over the economic impact of potential tariffs, which are clouding the broader economic outlook. "While North America faced headwinds due to lower traffic volumes in Q1 2025, performance in other regions more than compensated," Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rossinyol said in a statement. "We are actively monitoring the geopolitical evolution, mitigating against potential impacts as needed with a continued focus on growth and profitability," Rossinyol added. In North America, core turnover for the quarter reached 991 million Swiss francs, up from 974 million francs in the same period last year. The region remains Avolta's second-largest market, accounting for 32% of the group's total turnover in 2024. ($1 = 0.8394 Swiss francs)
