CAN NEUHAUS TAKE PREMIUM BELGIAN CHOCOLATE TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN TRAVEL RETAIL?
7 minutes read
Introduction by: Peter Marshall
Neuhaus has the heritage, craftsmanship and credentials to command a place in premium confectionery. But in a travel retail category increasingly dominated by promotions and the fight for passenger attention, the Belgian chocolatier knows that heritage alone is not enough.
From designer collaborations and seasonal innovation to standalone airport boutiques in India and ambitions in China, Neuhaus is looking beyond the traditional duty-free shelf.
Colleen Morgan speaks to Alexandra Bevernage, Travel Retail & Business Development Director, about turning brand heritage into a more distinctive traveller experience – and building a bigger future for Neuhaus in the channel.
Colleen Morgan (CM): As the inventor of the Belgian praline, Neuhaus has the heritage, craftsmanship and distinctive branding. But how do you turn those strengths into a bigger success story in travel retail?
Alexandra Bevernage (AB): Our heritage gives us tremendous credibility, but heritage alone is not enough. We need to make it relevant and tangible to today’s traveller.
Travel retail is a natural fit for Neuhaus, because travellers are already in a mindset of discovery, gifting and treating themselves or somebody they care about. Our ambition is to translate the Neuhaus story into an experience built around exceptional Belgian chocolate, beautiful presentation and genuinely premium service.
That means getting the fundamentals right – visibility, assortment and strong partnerships – while investing in tastings, personalisation, activations and dedicated Neuhaus environments. We are already present in more than 50 airports worldwide, giving us a solid platform for growth.
The next chapter for us is not simply about being present in more airports. It is about creating more reasons for the traveller to stop, discover Neuhaus and remember the experience.
CM: In a crowded confectionery category, what makes Neuhaus stand out on the shelf, and how do you convince travellers to choose Neuhaus over other brands?
AB: In an airport, you have only a few seconds to capture someone’s attention, so you need an identity that is immediately recognisable.
For Neuhaus, that starts with authenticity. We invented the Belgian praline in Brussels in 1912, and we still make our pralines in Belgium today. What sets us apart is the combination of heritage, craftsmanship, taste and contemporary innovation, with original Belgian chocolate, honest chocolate and “The Gift of Caring” at the heart of the brand.
But we also have to make that difference visible at the point of sale. Packaging matters, as do sampling, storytelling, personalisation and human interaction. When travellers taste the product and understand its story, heritage becomes an experience rather than just something written on a box.
We also need the right proposition for different purchasing occasions. Premium gifting remains fundamental, but there are opportunities in accessible gifting, sharing, self-indulgence and spontaneous purchases. Developing a broader assortment to meet these needs is one of our priorities in travel retail.
CM: Innovation plays a key role in keeping the confectionery category fresh. From the Christian Wijnants collaboration to the new Irrésistibles Advent Calendar, what’s driving Neuhaus’s latest launches, and how do they fit into your wider travel retail strategy?
AB: For us, innovation should never be innovation for innovation’s sake. It has to start with the Neuhaus DNA.
Our recent launches show two complementary sides of innovation. With Christian Wijnants and Les Nuances, we bring Belgian fashion and chocolate craftsmanship together through a collection of five pralines exploring flavour, colour and texture. The range includes pistachio, pecan and raspberry, coffee, caramel, and pomelo and lemon.
With the Irrésistibles Advent Calendar, we take something consumers already know and love and give it a new seasonal expression.
Both launches make sense in travel retail because they give us a story to tell and a reason for travellers to rediscover the brand. Innovation creates newness on the shelf, but, more importantly, it creates conversation, theatre and emotion. That matters in an environment where we are competing not only with other confectionery brands, but also for the traveller’s attention.
CM: How did the collaboration with Christian Wijnants come about, and what does this partnership bring to Neuhaus beyond the chocolate itself?
AB: What attracted us was the possibility of creating a genuine dialogue between two Belgian creative worlds.
Christian Wijnants’ work is very much about colour, texture and layering, and those ideas translate beautifully into chocolate. The result is Les Nuances and its five distinctive pralines. The collaboration also extends beyond chocolate, with a silk scarf inspired by the collection’s colours and layered compositions.
For Neuhaus, collaborations like this allow people to see a historic house through a contemporary lens. We remain faithful to our craftsmanship, but we are also a brand that has been innovating since the invention of the praline.
In travel retail, that is particularly powerful. Travellers are looking for products with provenance, but also for something they haven’t seen everywhere else. A collaboration like this turns chocolate into a discovery, a conversation and ultimately a very distinctive gift.
CM: The new Irrésistibles Advent Calendar puts a fresh spin on Christmas gifting. Is this about reimagining a Neuhaus classic for a new generation, or is there a bigger opportunity for seasonal innovation in travel retail?
AB: I think it is both.
Irrésistibles has a very recognisable Neuhaus identity, so using it as the basis for an Advent Calendar allows consumers to experience an iconic product in a completely different way. Launched in September, the calendar is a festive tribute to the Irrésistibles praline.
There is also a broader opportunity. Seasonality is powerful in travel retail because journeys are often connected to occasions. At Christmas, travellers are going home, visiting family and friends, and looking for gifts they can take with them.
Rather than seeing Christmas simply as a sales period, we see seasonal innovation as an opportunity to create excitement, collectability and gifting rituals around Neuhaus. The same principle can apply to other moments throughout the year.
CM: On expansion, which markets are top of the agenda for Neuhaus in travel retail? Your recent move into standalone airport boutiques in India is an interesting step. Could this be a model for further growth?
AB: Absolutely, and India is an important learning model for us.
In 2026, we opened our first Indian boutique at Navi Mumbai International Airport, followed by a second location at Mumbai airport. India is a strategic growth market, driven by increasing demand for premium brands and high-quality gifting. Our airport presence provides a springboard for developing the brand further in the country.
What is particularly interesting is the mono-brand airport model. A dedicated boutique allows us to express the Neuhaus universe more fully, from assortment and service to storytelling, tasting and the gifting experience. Traditional duty free will remain important, but our strategy is expanding beyond the conventional walkthrough model.
We are exploring how airlines, experiential corners, mono-brand boutiques and selected premium F&B environments can complement our core airport retail presence. Our roadmap identifies opportunities in selected European and Middle Eastern hubs, India and Singapore.
So, India isn’t simply another point of sale. It is helping us understand how Neuhaus can capture the premium traveller in new ways.
CM: And what about China? What opportunities do you see for Neuhaus, and how do you plan to build your presence in the market?
AB: China offers considerable long-term opportunity for Neuhaus, but I believe we need to approach the market thoughtfully.
We are already seeing organic consumer interest online, with an existing fanbase on RedNote and growing engagement among younger consumers, despite limited investment to date. However, the potential remains largely untapped and requires a more focused strategy.
For us, China is not simply about adding distribution – it is about building the brand correctly. We need to combine the right physical presence with digital discovery and storytelling, working with partners who understand the premium consumer and can protect Neuhaus’s positioning.
That’s particularly important with younger Chinese consumers. Our opportunity isn’t to become ubiquitous. It is to become desirable and relevant, while retaining what makes Neuhaus unmistakably Belgian.
CM: How do you see the confectionery category today? And has the relationship between retailers and suppliers evolved for the better, or is there still work to do?
AB: Confectionery remains a fantastic travel retail category because it is emotional, accessible and universal. A box of chocolates can be a gift, a thank you, something to share or simply a treat for yourself.
But the category is at an interesting point. Airports have become increasingly promotional, and confectionery risks becoming too focused on price, volume and familiar formats. We need to find new ways to engage premium travellers and give them reasons to stop and look.
That means brands and retailers working together to make the category more experiential and inspirational, from assortment and visibility to activation, sampling and service.
The relationship between retailers and suppliers has evolved positively, but there is still room to move beyond transactional discussions towards genuine category partnership. The question should no longer be simply, “How much shelf space do we have?” but “How can we make the traveller stop and engage with a brand?”
That is where both the retailer and the brand win.
CM: Looking ahead, what are Neuhaus’s ambitions for travel retail, and what would success look like for the brand over the next few years?
AB: Our ambition is quite simple: when international travellers think of premium Belgian chocolate, we want Neuhaus to be the natural reference. Our mission is very simple to “Bring the Best of Belgian Chocolates to the world”.
That means continuing to grow in major international hubs, but growth alone isn’t our definition of success. We want stronger visibility, greater consumer engagement and a more complete representation of the Neuhaus brand.
We are also looking beyond the traditional duty-free shelf, developing five complementary touchpoints: duty free, airlines, experience corners, selected mono-brand airport boutiques and potentially Neuhaus environments within premium F&B. The objective is to reach premium travellers at more moments throughout their journey, while protecting the brand experience.
Ultimately, success means that travellers don’t simply buy Neuhaus at an airport. They discover the brand there, remember the experience and continue their relationship with Neuhaus when they arrive home.
That is how travel retail becomes not just a sales channel, but a global showcase for Neuhaus.
