South Wales-based Bon Bon Buddies, Europe’s leading supplier of licensed character and branded confectionary, is celebrating its twentieth year in business by expanding into new markets.
The firm, founded in 1993 in the front room of managing director Chris Howarth’s house, has expanded its presence in the Middle East, opening up new markets in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain in the last six months.
In 2011, it began trading in the United Arab Emirates and has already grown its distribution presence there by more than 600% over the last year. It is now hoping to expand into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine in the coming months.
From small beginnings in a south Wales village, Bon Bon Buddies now employs more than 80 staff across its sites, which includes its 15,000 sq ft Blackwood headquarters, together with six dedicated sales and logistics facilities in Central Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Last year, it turned over a record £37 million through exports to 40 countries.
The scale of the confectioners’ growth is such that it is one of only two companies in Wales to be featured in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 League Table, which ranks Britain’s fastest growing international sales performers.
And earlier this year, Bon Bon Buddies’ achievements were recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade, one of the UK’s highest accolades for business success.
Chris Howarth says he can never quite get over the staggering success of his start-up: “Even after the first year, when I turned over £120,000 with Thunderbirds-branded Christmas crackers produced for Woolworths and moved from my front room into dedicated premises, I didn’t imagine that 20 years on we’d be working with some of the world’s leading entertainment and toy brands, or that we’d have six dedicated sales and logistics facilities across Europe and the Middle East.
“I wanted to create innovative confectionary for children, and starting my own company was a dream come true. But none of this could have happened without a clear strategy, a strong and committed management team and a dedicated workforce.
“The Middle East is an important growth market for us. People who live there have a high disposable income, a propensity to consume confectionary and are also very familiar with the brands we work with thanks to access to a myriad of satellite TV channels.
“Big brands such as Disney and Marvel are particularly popular, and consumers tend to enjoy products with unique textures and tastes. This has led to our own brand products, super-sour
Brainblasterz and our crunchy, space-themed Nanobytes selling really well here.
“However, Europe is also key and we’ve been working hard to expand our presence further in these mature markets. We now supply products to every market within the European Union.
“Our aim is to increase the proportion of non-UK sales to two thirds of total sales, while investing in technology to develop new sales streams is also on the agenda.”
Bon Bon Buddies partners include Disney, Warner Bros, Nintendo, Mattel and Hasbro. Seventy-five per cent of its business comes from developing around 400 character-branded products every year including seven million advent calendars and 10 million Easter eggs.
The company has also capitalised on its own supply routes into major European retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Carrefour, Leclerc, Bedronka and Metro by handling the exclusive distribution of major brands including PEZ, Ritter Sport and the Jelly Bean Factory into a number of its markets.
It works with a Dubai-based distributor to supply major supermarkets and speciality stores in the Middle East.
Its first own-brand product, the mega-sour sweets brand Brainblasterz, was launched in 2011 and its second, space-themed Nanobytes, have been flying off the shelves since they landed in shops in September this year.
Working this year with global candy manufacturer PEZ and Comic Relief, Bon Bon Buddies helped to raise thousands for the charity through the distribution of limited edition Red Nose PEZ dispensers.
Chris Howarth concluded: “Bon Bon Buddies never fails to provide excitement and new challenges – for me and for everyone who works here. Our growth plans are certainly both those things, but I am confident that the next five years will see us building on our success.
“We are passionate about our employees and allow them to take on more responsibilities, develop and grow as the business grows. That approach, along with plans for some fantastic new products, means that Bon Bon Buddies has an exciting future ahead.”