Annual Report 2009 - melitta.info

28
Melitta Group Annual Report 2009
The operating division Melitta SystemService offers
one-stop coffee preparation solutions for the food service
sector. It produces and markets filter coffee machines
and fully automatic coffee specialty machines around the
world. The range is rounded out by the sale of coffee and
accessories as well as a technical support team consisting
mainly of the company’s own employees.
Position strengthened in slightly
shrinking market
Whereas the target markets of Melitta SystemService
have enjoyed steady growth over the past few years, they
were hit by a noticeable decline in the catering sector’s
purchases of new equipment in early 2009. Following
three years of double-digit growth, the year also got off
to a modest start for us. Although demand began to pick
up during the year, we were unable to reach the prioryear
sales level. Nevertheless, we succeeded in strengthening
our market position and achieved growth on the
fiercely contested German market.
Strong boost to sales from foreign business
The most outstanding events for Melitta SystemService
in 2009 were the successful conclusion of a major order
and establishment of our own customer service organi-
Harald Johanning-Meiners
CEO
Peter Tintelnot
CEO
(until February 17, 2010)
zation in the USA. The operating division now employs
around 100 staff and has established itself as a highperformance
systems partner for major customers. We
owe this success above all to our Swiss subsidiary
Cafina. The company proved its expertise and tremendous
flexibility in producing sufficient machines to meet
this large-scale order.
Our Japanese subsidiary Melitta Japan can also look
back on a successful financial year. After Germany, the
USA and Switzerland, Japan is already the fourth largest
market for Melitta SystemService. In 2009, we enjoyed a
very successful launch for our new Melitta ® “c35” – a
high-performance, fully automatic machine for coffee
specialties measuring just 35 cm in width.
Melitta SystemService
Sales
in € ’000
2009
2008
Employees
Average
2009
2008
115,145
122,697
702
645
Capital expenditure
in € ’000
2009
2008
Outlook 2010:
Expansion of business in the USA and Japan
The prospects for the current financial year are already
favorable: the out-of-house sector in particular expects
growing demand as the scope for investment in capital
goods increases again. Our coffee machine business will
be driven by demand from the catering sector for fully
automatic machines. We will also focus on gaining further
new customers among the food service chains. In
order to strengthen our expertise as a full-range supplier
for the highly discerning German catering sector, we will
be adding top-quality bio Transfair coffees and a new hot
chocolate assortment to our product range. We also expect
a further boost to sales from our exclusive cooperation
with TeeGschwendner.
We expect our core European markets to develop at highly
diverging rates – whereby the German market is already
showing strongly positive signals. In our other European
markets, we also see signs of recovery. In 2010, we will
focus in particular on developing our non-European
business: we aim to expand our distribution basis in the
USA and further develop our business in Japan.
Melitta ®
2,117
1,182
Our brand for
coffee enjoyment.
Cafina ®
The brand for fully automatic
coffee specialty machines.
Melitta SystemService 29