Rovio, another Finnish based company, is the creator of the mobile game franchise Angry Birds. Fazer plans to manufacture Angry Birds confectionery, and as well as launching in Scandinavia, it plans a trial period in Asia.
Entertainment confectionery
Pekka Rantala, managing Director of Fazer Bakeries and Confectionery, said that consumers were becoming increasingly interested in combing eating habits with entertainment.
“This creates new opportunities, and we have identified the joyful & playful field as one of the interesting avenues in our product development,” he said.
The partners plan to utilise social media and the Angry Birds game to promote the product, much like Fazer did when it launched the confectionery brand Tyrkisk Peber in autumn 2011.
International markets
Rantala said that new partners and expansion to new markets were prerequisites for Fazers international growth strategy.
“In addition to Sweden, we focus on Denmark, Norway and Russia, and we are now headed for Asia. The growth of chocolate consumption in China is vast, and we will start test sales of our products there next summer. In Japan, we have started to build our presence at airports,” he said.
Angry Bird confectionery will be made commercial available in June this year and further details of the products will be announced in March.
Rantala added: “In addition to new geographical areas, we are constantly seeking new ways to utilise our confectionery brands on familiar markets. As market leader, it is our task to develop the market.”
Fazers
Fazer is Finland’s leading confectionery company and has a strong presence in the Baltic Sea region. It has three factories all factories located in Finland and exports to around 40 countries worldwide.
The Fazer Group employs around 16,500 people and in 2010 recorded turnover of €1.5bn.