In 1946, brothers Ambrogio and Egidio Perfetti took over their father’s small candy workshop in Lainate, Italy. One of their earliest products was the country’s first brand of chewing gum, Brooklyn, which featured the iconic New York City bridge on the wrapper.
During the next six decades, the brothers transformed the business into Perfetti Van Melle SpA, the world’s sixth-largest confectionery and maker of Mentos mints and Airheads taffy. The closely held Milan-based company reported 2.37 billion euros ($3.15 billion) in revenue in 2011, up 12 percent from a year earlier amid increased demand from emerging markets such as India, where sales rose 169 percent from 2007 through 2012, according to a research report by Euromonitor International.
The surge in value has added more than $1 billion to each of the fortunes of Ambrogio’s two billionaire sons, Augusto, 61, and Giorgio, 65, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“They’re really playful in their product mix,” said Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight at market researcher Mintel Food and Drink, in a phone interview Jan. 22. “The company is privately held, so we don’t know a lot about them. But what we do see is clever innovation that’s strategically organized.”
The brothers control the candy maker through C+F Confectionery & Foods Holding BV, a Netherlands-based holding company. Each has a net worth of at least $3 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking
Airheads, Lollipops
Sales of Perfetti chewing gum make up 41 percent of its revenue, while candies -- including Airheads and Chupa Chups lollipops -- account for 59 percent, according to Anna Re, a Perfetti Van Melle spokeswoman in Milan. More than 22 percent of its total sales come from Italy, according to Euromonitor.
In January 2001, the company acquired 63 percent of Van Melle NV, the Breda, Netherlands-based maker of Mentos, for 649 million euros. The operation already owned a 37 percent stake in Van Melle, which it bought in 1991.
The company publishes little financial information. At a press conference at the time of the Van Melle acquisition in 2001, Augusto Perfetti said his company was more profitable than Van Melle. In 1999, the last year financial information was available on Van Melle, the company earned 28.8 million euros on sales of 447.6 million, giving it a 6.5 percent net margin, according to its annual earnings report.
Tic Tacs