Exotic Lollipops Give Spanish Firm a Global Flavor

B A R C E L O N A, Spain, May 3 -- Throw a dart at a globe and chances areyou'll hit a country where Chupa Chups is selling lollipops, with52 flavors catering to every kind of palate.

The Spanish candy giant's 4 billion suckers a year are tailoredto tastes in 170 countries, ranging from licorice-flavored for theNetherlands to lichee or tea for China. At one time or another themenu's been graced by root beer for Americans and "tarte tintin,"a kind of apple pie, for the ever-finicky French.

A Coke tastes pretty much the same no matter where it's sold.But Chupa Chups says pampering taste buds with myriad flavors workswonders with sales.

"We try to be global by acting local," said Belgian-bornmarketing director Xavier de Lame, one of many polyglots at ChupaChups' Barcelona headquarters. Others speak German, Russian, Arabicor Chinese, one way the lollipop maker stays in touch with foreignmarkets.

It's all part of the story of how a firm that began pitching itswares from compact cars that putt-putted around Spain in the 1960shas blossomed and adapted to the global economy.

Sweet Expansion

Chupa Chups launched an international expansion drive in the1980s, started tinkering with its product to carry native favor andnever looked back. Now, 90 percent of its sales are abroad.

"The only countries we don't operate in are ones where theywon't let us in, like North Korea or Iran, or are too small orinaccessible to make it worthwhile," said Miguel Otero, thecommunications director.

In Spain, Chupa Chups is so engrained in society that its brandname is essentially the Spanish word for lollipop, much like Xeroxfor English-speakers grew into a verb meaning to photocopy.

Chupa Chups has two factories in Spain and one each in France,Mexico, Russia and China, with a global work force of 1,900.

It posted $440 million in sales last year; the privately ownedcompany declines to disclose profits. Chupa Chups ranked sixth inthe world in 1999 among hard candy sellers, excluding makers ofchocolate or gum, according to London-based market researcherEuromonitor.