08/25/2024 – 9:00
Sugar-free candy maker GoldKo plans to have 15 franchised stores open by the end of this year and another 40 by the end of 2025. Behind the rapid success of the brand created less than 10 years ago is a family with a history and tradition in the chocolate business: the Kopenhagen Goldfinger.
GoldK has been operating its own store in the Eldorado shopping mall in the capital of São Paulo since 2021, and last year opened its first franchised unit in Londrina (PR). The plan now is to accelerate expansion by investing in a 100% sugar-free product line.
The return of the Kopenhagen
In 2017, one of David’s sons, Paulo Kopenhagen Goldfinger, and two of his grandchildren, Gregory and Chantal, decided to return to the candy business to “create the best chocolate there is.” GoldKo was born.
The family’s entry into the chocolate industry began in 1928, when Latvian immigrants Anna and David Kopenhagen began producing marzipan, a traditional European sweet, at home. They later created a chocolate-covered version. The following year, they opened the first Kopenhagen store, still selling marzipan. By the 1960s, there were more than 30 candy stores in the city, in addition to their own factory.
+Find out how much it costs to open a Kopenhagen franchise
+After legal setback, Kopenhagen launches new products from the ‘Cat’s Tongue’ line
The Kopenhagens no longer have any connection with the company that bears their name. David and Anna’s children decided to sell it in 1996 to Grupo CRM, owned by businessman Celso Ricardo de Moraes. Control of the brand would later pass to private equity firm Advent International in 2020, before being purchased by Nestlé in 2023.
In this new venture by the family into the chocolate market, Paulo and his children Gregory and Chantal decided that it was important to be together and involved in the day-to-day running of the new business. Paulo took on research and development, Chantal took on communications, and Gregory took on the role of CEO.
Sugar-free indulgence
GolKo underwent a drastic change in 2020 when Paulo introduced his children to a sugar-free chocolate bar. “It was much better than what we had,” Gregory recalls.
From there, the founders came to the conclusion that they had to get out of the traditional chocolate business. “We have a duty to our consumers to offer what is best for them, and not what we want to sell because with sugar there is a higher margin.” [de lucro]”, says the CEO.
The company then underwent a rebranding, which included a small change from the previous name Gold & Ko to the current GoldKo.
“We look at our business as an ecosystem of healthy indulgence,” Gregory sums up. In the food industry, the term indulgence refers to superfluous or non-essential items, such as sweets and alcoholic beverages.
Own factory and multiple sales channels
GoldKo announced an investment of R$20 million made over the last 12 months. Around R$15 million was earmarked to expand the production capacity of its own factory, located in Minas Gerais, to around 2.4 million kilos per year.
“Today we have the largest and most modern sugar-free chocolate factory in Brazil. Certainly one of the largest in the world, especially since there are only a few of them,” says the CEO.
The rest of the investment was earmarked to accelerate the franchise model. According to Gregory, there is great interest among entrepreneurs in opening new units. “Today our bottleneck is not industrial, it is not franchise leads, it is much more about finding good commercial locations. We are not going to open stores in mediocre locations.”
The CEO points out that, in addition to healthiness, the multiple sales channels are another essential difference in relation to the former family company, Kopenhagen.
While the family-owned company focuses on its own stores and franchises, GoldKo derives around 85% of its revenue from retailers such as supermarkets and pharmacies, in addition to an e-commerce strategy that accounts for around 5% of sales.
Franchising is, however, the engine for future expansion. “When we look ahead, all business units are growing significantly, around 50% per year, but we understand that franchising should surpass or equal the retail business,” says Gregory. The company currently has seven stores in operation. When asked about its annual revenue, it did not respond for strategic reasons.
Another source of pride for the founders is their ongoing research and development of new products. According to the CEO, the company’s creamy marshmallow, for example, was the first sugar-free marshmallow in the world. Today, there are 63 products divided into five categories: chocolates, marshmallows, protein bars, and the recently launched ice cream and coffee, especially for stores.
#Kopenhagen #family #DNA #sugar #Goldko #expansion #plan