Unilever to Enter European Chilled Products Market

ROTTERDAM -- Anglo-Dutch consumer products company Unilever NV will enter the European chilled products market in September, c.e.o. Anthony Burgmans said Wednesday. The company will introduce ready-made chilled meals in Dutch supermarkets as of September under the brand name Conimex.

Unilever will introduce three alternative dairy cream products to markets in the Netherlands, France, and Germany, as well as in smaller European countries. The market for chilled dairy-cream products in the Netherlands is estimated at EUR1.3 billion, with growth of between 4.0 percent and 5.0 percent per year. The company hasn't specified its targets for market share.


Unilever forecasts the market for ready-made chilled meals in the Netherlands at EUR138 million. According to Bestfoods Netherlands Chief Executive Anthony Stal, the market is growing at 16 percent per year.

Unilever has also started selling Italian, Asian, and Dutch meal ingredients to the out-of-home market which includes restaurants, caterers, grocers, and butchers. It uses the brand names Bertolli, Conimex, and Unox for this product line under the concept name 'Big World Great Food'.
Unilever already has contracts with 200 outlets for its meal ingredients concept, which has been developed in cooperation with caterer Sodexho Alliance SA.
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