Hussel shops close after Easter. What went wrong at the chocolate and gummy candy company
Valentine's Day campaigns and joining TikTok during Halloween were some of the ‘efforts’ Jerónimo Martins made to save the shops, but bankruptcy in Germany and cocoa prices weighed more heavily.
All Hussel sweet and chocolate shops will close in Portugal after Easter. The disappointment for the Jerónimo Martins group, which had made “tireless efforts” to keep the company afloat, came from Germany, where the brand went bankrupt, making it unsustainable to maintain the 20 retail outlets spread across the country from north to south.
But this was not the only reason for the decline of this oasis of sweets in shopping centres, which ceased to thrive about two years ago. Supply problems and loss of scale, resulting from the end of the German partnership, and pressure on the price of cocoa prompted the Soares dos Santos family to discontinue the operation.
“The lasting impact of this set of factors led to the understanding that the company was facing a situation of unsustainability with no reasonable prospects of reversal”, concluded the retailer, explaining that, in view of rising costs – especially rents – “these difficulties ultimately proved insurmountable”.
The volatility of the raw material that gives rise to chocolate had a negative impact. In the 2024/2025 season, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) reduced its surplus forecast by more than 65% to 49,000 tonnes and lowered its global production estimate to 4.69 million tonnes. As XTB analysts explain, the previous season (2023/2024) “was historically difficult, because the ICCO revised the global deficit to 494,000 tonnes, the largest in more than 60 years, and production fell by 12.9% compared to the previous year”.
The 60 employees (most of whom are permanent) will be integrated into other Pingo Doce, Recheio or Jeronymo stores if they accept the internal transition. “Every effort has been made in terms of cost discipline and management with a view to efficiency gains. Individual talks with Hussel employees are taking place today [Tuesday]. We believe there will be a positive response from employees regarding the proposed integration opportunities”, an official source from Jerónimo Martins told ECO.
The “tough year” of 2024. Campaigns and TikTok unable to save the brand
The gum and chocolate business began to sour in 2024, a “tough year” for Hussel due to increased operating costs (human resources, rents and raw materials, mainly coffee and cocoa) and falling margins in response to declining consumer purchasing power, according to Jerónimo Martins’ annual report and accounts.
As a result, the chocolate, gum and confectionery chain’s turnover fell by 1.4% year-on-year to €6.16 million. The 2025 figures will be released on 18 March.
One of the most recent strategic decisions to boost the brand was to join another social network, TikTok. An official account was created during Halloween 2024 – typically a busy time for shops, as Halloween involves delivering sweets to doorsteps or themed party tables – and the group hoped that “joining this platform” would “breathe new life into the brand as a benchmark for quality indulgence”. More than a year later, the account has only 194 followers and around 1,300 likes on the videos posted.
Among these “sustained efforts” are investments in flagship campaigns, including Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas, innovation in assortment and packaging (“differentiated packaging”) and greater “diversity of gift options, in order to make these campaigns even more attractive”.
By 2025, the goal was to increase sales and simplify processes, “boosting productivity in order to regain profitability” for both Hussel and Jeronymo, the coffee shop chain that is analysed together with the “chocolate shop”.
Both “restructured their operations, with a profound change in their management and a redefinition of their business models in order to simplify them to face a future that looks challenging”, acknowledged the managing director in the annual document sent to the CMVM. It is now confirmed that the efforts were unsuccessful.
It is also in this context that Nuno Pedra, former head of Jeronymo at Jerónimo Martins, left the company after 20 years. In a post on Sunday on the social network LinkedIn, in which he announced his departure, he wrote that “it has been two decades of continuous learning and very diverse experiences (talent management, training school, regional human resources management, Jeronymo business management)” and that he is ending “this journey” in the area of operational marketing at Pingo Doce, as coordinator.
Disappointment born in Germany
Jerónimo Martins acknowledged that Hussel faced a “very demanding” 2024, marked by more difficult commercial negotiations with its main suppliers as a result of the insolvency of its shareholder and partner Jerónimo Martins — Hussel GmbH — in Germany, although it maintained its mission of brand loyalty and went ahead with a store refurbishment, despite this international context.
The insolvent Hussel GmbH, founded in 1949 in Hagen, is the minority shareholder (49%) of Hussel and, following the amortisation of the shares held by the German company and the reduction of the share capital at the agreed time, Jerónimo Martins now owns 100% of Hussel Ibéria. In the middle of last year, ECO asked the Portuguese group if it was looking for a new partner for this business, but an official source replied that it saw no “need for another capital partner”.
At that time, regarding plans to open or close Hussel stores in the country, the owner of Pingo Doce and Recheio acknowledged that “the store network is not static” and that these decisions “stem mainly from location opportunities”, but at that time had no “changes planned”.
The statements came after Hussel GmbH filed for insolvency on 31 January 2024 at the Norderstedt District Court, as reported by Die Welt. The company was acquired by Arko (confectionery) and Eilles (tea and coffee) in September 2018 with the aim of creating “attractive economies of scale” and a “basis for joint growth”.
The trio resulting from the merger, headquartered in Wahlstedt, employed approximately 1,200 people, according to Wirtschaftswoche magazine.
