Meal Service Business Area

Strong design offering on an expanding market

Customized and environmentally-profiled products generate short-term and long-term growth.

Business area strategy in brief:

• To develop, in a flexible manner, unique solutions that solve the customers’ problems and meet their needs.

• Focused and active customer contacts.

• To drive innovation and efficient purchasing from selected suppliers.

The Meal Service business area creates concepts for serving and packaging food on the constantly growing market within take-away, fresh ready-to-eat food and catering. The products are adapted for ready-to-eat food and often have a high environmental profile. Customers comprise companies operating within the restaurant, catering and food production industries in Europe.

GROWTH MARKET

Increased mobility together with ongoing urbanization means, in many respects, a new way of eating. The trend of eating on the go is constantly increasing and demands for higher quality food service products that follow the same pattern.

Duni has taken this trend seriously. A separate business area – Meal Service – was formed in 2012 for this product category. The basic concept is to create unique product solutions for customers within the segment. By focusing on modern design with an appealing form and function, combined with an attractive material and environmental profile, Duni has created an offering which has been well received by the market.

LEADING POSITION

Duni has created a leading position in the Nordic region and is regularly gaining shares on several European markets. In 2015, 8.5% growth was reached at fixed exchange rates. The rate of increase is twice that of the European market in general.

CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS

Nowadays, the customers want to stand out and develop their own brands by having a coherent and professional outward profile. Here, Duni has developed a business model which can efficiently create customized solutions in line with the customer’s market communication. During the year, a number of new products were rolled out with great success, thereby contributing to growth in the business area. In addition, with a high service level and flexibility, customer relations are created with good potential to develop over time.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT RANGE

Demand is growing for packaging solutions with a smaller carbon footprint than traditional solutions, and 2015 was no exception. Duni’s ecoecho® product line offers a range with some of the most environmentally conscious products on the market. Interest in the product range is constantly increasing and it has made a strong contribution to growth in the business area. Materials such as compostable bagasse (produced from waste products from cane sugar processing), bioplastic and fiber-based carton provide added value for which the customers are prepared to pay. As a consequence of the attention that the range has attracted, an ever increasing percentage of future product launches will be within the ecoecho® range.

CONSOLIDATED PURCHASING

Since most of the products are purchased from external suppliers, focus has been placed on increasing efficiency in the purchasing work and adapting for new product launches. During the year, raw material prices showed a degree of volatility but the gross margin improved thanks to active work on coordinating purchasing activities.

CONCEPTS OF THE FUTURE

During 2015, the organization was streamlined to obtain an optimal structure for future growth. An expanded sales corp has been established, tasked with creating new customer relations. Together with additional focus on developing customer-unique products in the premium segment, innovative and in vogue concepts as well as ever greater focus on the environmentally conscious ecoecho® range, the prospects are good for further growth in 2016.