Lindt & Sprüngli’s sales volumes were hit by the company’s highest-ever pricing last year and are expected to suffer more pain in 2026.
The Swiss premium chocolate group today (10 March) reported organic growth of 12.4% for last year, the fastest pace since the 13.3% rate in 2021 but it was led by 19% in pricing rather than volumes.
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Volume/mix fell 6.6% and a “slightly” negative print is forecast for fiscal 2026 as Lindt & Sprüngli positions for mid-single-digit price increases, including a double-digit hike over the Easter period.
A pick-up in volume/mix will be weighted to the back half but only into “flat to positive” territory after another negative reading in the opening six months, CEO Adalbert Lechner told a media call.
“We were forced to increase prices by more than 40% in the last four years, and for three years we did not see any impact on volumes. Last year was the first year where we saw a slight negative volume/mix effect of minus 6.6%,” Lechner explained. “And for us, it’s the clear priority – how to get back to volume growth as soon as possible.”
The pricing strategy has taken the burner of volume-driven revenue growth. From 2021 to 2025, Lindt & Sprüngli registered average volume/mix of 2.1% and 8% in price.
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By GlobalDataIt was a different story from 2006 to 2019 when volume/mix averaged 4% and pricing 2.5%, presentation slides showed today.
Lindt & Sprüngli encountered tough price negotiations last year with retailers as a result, with Lechner singling out Migros in Switzerland as an example.
“This did quite cost us some of the growth rates that we had intended,” he said, adding: “Also in France, we had some issues. In North America, we were with some customers in a longer period of negotiations until they accepted the price increases. So I would say the growth could have even been stronger without these frictions.”
The conflict in the Middle East is likely to add further pressure to those caused by the cost of cocoa and cocoa butter.
While cocoa prices have come off the 2024 record highs, CFO Martin Hug said they are still around 50% higher than three years ago and could well be set for a correction following the sharp declines over the past six months or so.
“The big question is now, of course, where will the market go from here?” Hug asked rhetorically, adding that issues around diseases such as swollen shoot disease are still “structural” challenges.
“What I should also say is, when I look now into the future with the Iran crisis, et cetera, et cetera, you have cost pressure from other areas as well, not just cocoa. Packaging, material costs will go up if fuel prices go up, our costs for transportation will go up.”
Lechner said consumer sentiment in Europe and North America was already in the doldrums last year and a slowdown in tourism, especially from Asian visitors having to travel through the Middle East, could hurt Lindt & Sprüngli.
Pain points could be the company’s own retail stores and global travel retail, while an increase in energy and fuel costs would likely cause further strife for European and North American consumers, he said.
Amid the uncertainty, Lindt & Sprüngli is guiding to a slowdown in organic growth to around 4-6% in 2026 although the progression in the EBIT margin is still expected at 20-40 basis points from last year’s 16.4% (16.2% in 2024).
Meanwhile, based on last year’s sales of SFr5.92bn ($7.62bn), net profit rose 8.1% to SFr726.7m.
Lechner is optimistic the company will return to volume-led revenue growth in 2027 but the shares were down more than 11% at SFr10,750 as of 12:33 GMT today.
