Nestle plans to move production of Lentilky confectionery from the Czech Republic to Germany. They have been produced in Holešov in the Kroměříž region since 1907, but from the spring of next year, they will be made in Hamburg. According to the company, the reason for the move is to align the recipe for Czech Lentilky with the Smarties brand, under which the Lentilky are produced and sold abroad, as well as to reduce production costs.
The Sfinx factory in Holešov now produces the Lentilky. There are two reasons for moving the company to Germany. “The first is the harmonization of the recipe with our Smarties brand, which we decided based on the results of preferential tests among consumers,” said a Nestlé spokesperson. The product will contain less sugar and more milk and chocolate. The use of certified cocoa is also planned.
According to Nestlé Česko, another reason for moving is reducing costs for the maintenance of production technologies and better utilization of capacities at the Hamburg plant, which is sufficient for the production and distribution of the product to all countries of the European Union. “The plant has the technology for packaging Lentilky in paper packaging and will contribute to the fulfillment of Nestlé’s commitments regarding the reduction of plastic waste without major investments,” Kičina said.
Lentilky is still packed in paper packaging. However, according to Kičina, some have plastic parts. He gave a package of Lentilky weighing 140 grams in a tube as an example. “In our Czech plant, unlike the German plant, we do not have the technology that would allow us to replace them with paper ones,” said Kičina. According to him, the packaging of the best-selling 28-gram Lentilky format in paper will remain in the Sphinx.
Brothers Philipp and Rudolf Kneisl started making Lentilky in Holešov in 1907. The name chocolate candies come from the Latin word for Lentilky. The brothers patented the product. Thanks to them, the Sfinx factory was established in the town, which still produces Lentilky.
At the end of last year, about 400 people worked in the Holešov plant. More than half of its production consists of jelly products sold on the domestic market, mainly under the Jojo brand. The company also produces hard candies Bon Pari or Hašlerky, and dragees, including Lentilky and Smarties. Chocolate for smarties is imported from Nestlé’s second confectionery plant in the Czech Republic, Olomouc’s Zory. About 1.6 million Lentilky are produced in the Sphinx in one shift. Sphinx also makes marshmallows and semi-finished products for caramels.
The history of confectionery production in Holešov dates back to 1863. It then moved to the current factory on Palackého Street in 1910. Sphinx is, therefore, one of the oldest confectionery factories in the Czech Republic. Sfinx has been a part of Nestlé since 1992. The year before, it produced almost 15,900 tons of confectionery.
The profit of the Czech branch of the world’s leading confectionery manufacturer Nestlé in 2018 rose by 1.6 percent year on year to 578 million crowns. Revenues fell by 200 million crowns to 10.5 billion. The company has not yet published its financial results for last year.