Matt Klose, Global President of Unilever Ice Cream Business Group: Confidence in the Chinese Market Trend | Ice Cream | China

Release time:Apr 14, 2024 12:53 PM

Matt Klose, Global President of Unilever Ice Cream Business Group

With the continuous recovery of the consumer market, China's huge consumer market is showing a sustained growth trend, which also provides huge development opportunities for multinational corporations. As a leading brand in the ice cream industry, Matt Klose, Global President of Unilever Ice Cream Business Group, visited China in the scorching summer.

Matt Klose said in an interview with Economic Daily that the growth of the Chinese market has been very stable in the past five years. Heluxue focuses on developing Unilever's ice cream business globally and in China. Through brands that align with Chinese market culture, constantly innovating rich products, and expanding multidimensional channels, it will continue to provide consumers with a pleasant experience brought by ice cream.

As one of the world's largest ice cream manufacturers, Helukue has many popular ice cream brands in China, such as Menglong, Keaido, Qianlianxue, and Helukue. "China is one of the largest markets for Menglong and Kaedo, and also one of the countries that Unilever focuses on in investment and growth. We have a long-term commitment to the Chinese market," said Matt Klose.

"Continuous innovation is the key to driving consumer preference for brands." Matt Klose said that to meet the constantly changing consumer needs, brands first need to carefully listen to their voices. Currently, digital tools are used to gain insights into consumer needs, bringing more convenience and opportunities to innovation projects.

In January 2022, Unilever's "Lighthouse Factory" located in Taicang, Suzhou, Jiangsu was put into operation. This "smart factory", built with an investment of 100 million euros, brings innovative and delicious ice cream products through digitalization, intelligence, and flexible production. At the Taicang Lighthouse Factory, Heluxue's production line pursues the coexistence of intelligence, efficiency, flexibility, and agility. It has achieved a 10 minute quick switching of products from different categories and flavors on the production line, reducing product innovation time by 70%.


Matt Klose, Global President of Unilever Ice Cream Business Group: Confidence in the Chinese Market Trend | Ice Cream | China

In terms of flavor innovation, Menglong has launched several representative local flavors in China, whether it is the past matcha, cherry blossom flavor, osmanthus oolong, or this year's new brand "brown sugar ice powder" flavored popsicles, which have been welcomed by consumers. At the same time, Heluxue has also launched mini versions of Menglong and Koaido ice cream according to the needs of different consumers, which is consistent with the current trend of smaller ice cream sizes and better nutritional control.

As Unilever's largest investment in China for many years, Unilever has invested 1.6 billion yuan to establish a full category production base in Guangzhou. The ice cream factory is planned to be completed in 2025 and will also utilize intelligent manufacturing and supply chain innovation to achieve flexible customized production.

The rapid development of the Chinese e-commerce market on a global scale is remarkable. During this visit to China, Matt Close paid a special visit to Tiktok, a representative e-commerce platform in China, and Meituan, a fresh food customer.

In 2017, Heluxue launched "Ice Cream Now" in Amsterdam, which has now been promoted to more than 40 countries and regions worldwide. "Ice Cream Now" is one of the key channels to drive market growth and increase brand penetration in China. For example, the social e-commerce customers represented by Tiktok and the fresh customers represented by Hema are growing customers with excellent performance.

Matt Klose said, "As a practitioner in the ice cream business, it is important to ensure that consumers can enjoy ice cream anytime, anywhere. Therefore, in China, we have tried many different digital channel solutions, and the results are gratifying. This visit to China has allowed me to immerse myself in Chinese culture, help me better understand Chinese consumers, and provide better services for them in the future."

Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case
Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case

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Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest

Currently, the highly anticipated summer harvest work in Henan has shifted its focus to the northern region of Henan. According to the Henan Daily client, on June 4th, Lou Yangsheng, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, presided over a special video scheduling meeting on the "Three Summers" work in the province, listened to the situation report, analyzed and judged the situation, and arranged and deployed the next steps of work. Governor Wang Kai made specific arrangements. On the evening of May 31, 2023, in Xiafutou Village, Xuliang Town, Boai County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, villagers braved light rain in the wheat fields to harvest wheat. Visual China Map Lou Yangsheng pointed out that the current summer harvest battle in the province has entered the decisive stage. Doing a good job in summer harvest in northern Henan Province is related to the summer grain yield and seed safety. We should focus on seizing opportunities and make every effort to organize the wheat harvesting work in the northern Henan region, minimize losses, and protect the interests of farmers to the greatest extent possible. Accurate forecasting is essential

Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology
Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology

On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu all safely and smoothly exited the spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-15 manned flight mission was a complete success. What innovative technologies are there to safeguard the return journey of Shenzhou 15 in this mission? On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen photographed that "the sky and the ground" ensure the high-precision return of spacecraft. For the Shenzhou series spacecraft, the return and re-entry GNC technology is directly related to the life safety of astronauts. Taking the success of this return mission as a symbol, China has comprehensively upgraded its GNC system since the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft, which features autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, autonomous adaptive prediction and re-entry return guidance, and has completed a comprehensive update and replacement

The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet
The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet

At noon today, a Chinese naval fleet consisting of Zhanjiang and Xuchang ships arrived at the assembly area of the "Comodo-2023" multinational maritime joint exercise. It is understood that the assembly anchorage for this exercise is 3 nautical miles long and 1.5 nautical miles wide, capable of anchoring up to 50 ships. Naval vessels from various countries participating in the exercise will also arrive at the anchorage today to complete the assembly of the "Komodo 2023" multinational maritime joint exercise, which is held every two years by the Indonesian Navy. This year is already the fourth edition of the exercise. The exercise will be held from June 5th to 8th in the city of Jakarta, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, including the port and sea phases. In the coming days, participating navies from various countries will participate in ship reading style search and rescue exercises, maritime interception and damage management exercises, aerial exercises, and other course objectives exercises

New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale
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