Episode Details

Welcome to Episode 20 of the Preferred Shares Podcast.

We interviewed a special guest, Mark Purdy, about Lindt & Sprüngli, a Swiss chocolatier founded 180 years ago in 1845. Mark is a veteran investment analyst with a focus on consumer brands for the last forty years and is currently Portfolio Manager at Chelverton Asset Management’s Select Consumer Staples Fund.

In This Episode

Here are some highlights from the interview with Mark Purdy about Lindt:

* 01:27 - Mark Purdy’s Background in Consumer Staples

* 05:01 - Investment Metrics for Consumer Staples

* 06:47 - Lindt’s Historical Success and Sales Growth

* 10:37 - Lindt’s Premium Positioning and Market Strategy

* 13:18 - Market Share Potential in the U.S. and Europe

* 16:23 - Lindt’s Unique Retail Strategy and Store Performance

* 19:12 - Sales Distribution Channels and Profitability

* 22:30 - Acquisition Strategy and Capital Allocation

* 25:22 - Buybacks and Dividend Policy

* 29:37 - Long-Term Value and Consumer Staples Resilience

* 33:31 - Economic Sensitivity and Market Performance

* 36:22 - Navigating Economic Challenges: A Long-Term Perspective

* 41:30 - Quality Over Short-Termism: The Lindt Philosophy

* 44:20 - Cocoa Prices and Market Dynamics

* 49:59 - Consumer Behavior and Premium Chocolate

* 57:31 - Future Risks and Growth Opportunities for Lindt

Additional Reading & Listening

Curious to see what else we’ve been working on? Check out some of the interesting things we’ve done recently:

* Douglas Ott (Andvari Associates and @yesandnotyes) has been writing about the history of Booz Allen Hamilton as well as the recent board shake-up at CoStar Group

* 📖 Patience Wanes with CoStar’s Residential Foray: A Continuing State of “Show Me the Money”

* 📖 History of Booz Allen Hamilton: Part I

* Lawrence Hamtil (Fortune Financial and @lhamtil)

* 📖 Lessons from The Chocolate Wars

* Devin LaSarre (Invariant and @DevinLaSarre) continues his coverage of several tobacco businesses and also wrote a retrospective on the brand mismanagement of Schlitz beer

* 📖 Philip Morris International: Blasphemy

* 📖 Schlitz’s Souring

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Disclaimer

All opinions expressed by Preferred Shares hosts and guests