Heidi sales drop

Chocolate maker Heidi Chocolats Suisse SA last year posted $4.8m sales, according to Mediafax, down 4% as compared to the five million dollars logged in 2001. Last spring, company officials told Ziarul Financiar that 2002 sales would reach $6.5m. The company's turnover reached $3.2m in 2000, while profit amounted to 299,831 US dollars. Heidi posted $72,350 losses in 1999, against turnover of $1.4m. Heidi is the second chocolate company that reported smaller sales last year, after Kraft Foods (owner of the Poiana brand), which grounded its 2002 losses on the decreasing purchasing power. ZF