Bimbosan was able to further expand its share in the Swiss specialist market and reached an important milestone with the first delivery to Vietnam. The business relationship with Pharmalys was stabilised. Numerous market, customer and product development projects were launched to promote growth in the Baby Care division.

Value adjustments carried out in 2019 and the sale of Pharmalys Laboratories SA in December 2019 mean that the half-yearly results are not comparable to the previous year. In the Baby Care division, HOCHDORF achieved net sales revenue of CHF 37.6 million (previous year CHF 30.3 million; +24.2%). The low net sales revenue compared to several previous years is mainly due to the loss of a major customer in 2019 and delays in new customer projects. The coronavirus pandemic also led to setbacks in market registration for China. We remain hopeful of a positive decision.

To ensure sustained growth, the sales department has been strengthened in key areas and a large number of projects were launched to develop new markets, customers and products. The division aims to bring at least three new products to market by the end of the first quarter of 2021. The development department is working on developing infant formula without cow’s milk and on new products for premature babies, for example. Even if the corona­virus pandemic makes international cooperation more difficult, we still anticipate implementing the first projects in 2021.

We were able to stabilise the business relationship with Pharmalys after its sale in December 2019. We are working with Pharmalys to open up new markets and develop new products and product categories.

Bimbosan AG successfully launched its products on the Swiss market based on the new EU formulations – one reason why it was possible to increase our share in the specialist market. We are also working intensively on the development of new product categories for Bimbosan, which we want to launch on the market by the end of the first quarter 2021.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, panic buying in Switzerland resulted in an increase in sales and revenue for Bimbosan AG. The effect was however, rebalanced in the following months. In the cereals/porridge segment we had to withdraw two products from the market in June. The safety of our products and the health of our end consumers are paramount. We have learned from this case and adjusted our monitoring processes above and beyond the legal requirements. The internationalisation process has been slightly delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The first delivery of Bimbosan infant formula to Vietnam was an important milestone here.

Our objective remains unchanged for 2020: to promote growth with existing customers and acquire new customers with a market-oriented sales and service structure that is focused on regions and key customers, significantly improving plant utilisation in the medium term. The internationalisation of our own “Bimbosan” brand also plays a key role in the successful implementation of our strategy.

As indicated in the Annual Report for 2019, HOCHDORF will not be able recover from the previous year’s fall in turnover in 2020. Despite the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, existing orders allow us to assume that we will be able to reach the lower level of our projected net sales revenue for the current business year of between CHF 90 and 110 million.