SWISS has secured first place once again in the “Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class” category of the annual World Travel Awards – for the third time in succession and the fifth time overall since 2005. “We are delighted that our constant endeavours to make the SWISS Business air travel experience as attractive as possible on both the long and the short haul have been recognized once again,” said Frank Maier, Head of Product & Services at SWISS, on learning of the award. “This latest distinction also confirms to us,” he continued, “that as The Airline of Switzerland, with our typically Swiss top-quality service, we can more than hold our own.” SWISS has also embarked on further refining its long-haul service product and adding even more “Swissness” to the SWISS travel experience, a process that began in July. As well as expanding the range of its inflight movies (up to 130 by autumn), the airline now also offers its new “Made in Switzerland” platform featuring famed and less-well-known Swiss musicians and a growing number of films both about Switzerland and by Swiss movie makers.

Fears of a slowdown of luxury goods sales in China re-emerged today as Cartier-to-Montblanc owner Richemont missed analysts’ forecasts. Switzerland-based Richemont, which also owns Net-A-Porter and fashion label Chloé, warned that Chinese consumers were more “prudent” after “several years of exceptional expansion” as it reported group sales growth of 9% for the five months to September — just missing forecasts of 10%. The general luxury sector in China has been hit by a reduction in demand for high-end jewellery and watches after a clampdown on corporate bribes. Richemont, whose chairman Johann Rupert will leave for a one-year sabbatical after today’s annual meeting, reported good growth in its Asia-Pacific market and said Hong Kong and Macau offset lower sales in mainland China. A number of luxury goods brands, including handbag maker Hermès, recently reported improving Chinese sales, which led many to believe talk of a slowdown was overblown.

Paolo Mercado is a man with many hats. His responsibilities include advertising and media, digital marketing and social media, consumer services, consumer insights and marketing training and competence development with joint venture partners. Originally from the Philippines, almost two years after moving to Beijing following a stint at Nestlé’s headquarters in Switzerland, Mercado is excited about Beijing involved in several unique aspects of Nestlé’s marketing and brand building. “Because there is no Facebook in China, we are working with Baidu for searching,” says Mercado, adding that micro movies are an important part of the brand’s strategy. “We have also co-produced a sitcom called Camera Café with Tencent, which generated a good number of cumulative views,” he says. The series relies on social interaction and online sharing functions to offer a heightened level of engagement to the audience.  Research, listening and responding to online conversations about Nestlé have become central to the brand’s activities. “How we identify and respond to key influencers is very important,” he adds, highlighting the practicality of the multimedia research solutions Baidu offers to marketers. Looking ahead, he intends to place more emphasis on aligning initiatives generated by paid, owned and earned digital and online marketing and branding.

China has fined six baby formula producers following an investigation into price fixing and anti-competitive practices. Swiss food giant Nestlé was not punished because it cooperated with the Chinese authorities. The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that it was charging the companies a total of USD 110 million (CHF102 million) following a four-month antitrust probe. The penalised firms are Mead Johnson Nutrition, Danone, Fonterra, Abbott Laboratories, FrieslandCampina and Biostime International Holdings. In a statement published on Wednesday, the NDRC said that the fines were for restricting competition, setting curbs on minimum prices for distributors and disrupting market order. Along with two other companies, Nestlé was not punished because it “cooperated with the investigation, provided important evidence and carried out self-rectification” said the head of the NDRC’s price department. In July, when the probe was made public, Nestlé said that it would slash its baby milk formula prices by up to 20% in China. The punished firms now have to pay fines worth 3 to 6% of their 2012 sales. Analysts have said that the probe may have been part of a Chinese plan to promote the consumption of local baby formula. In 2008, melamine-tainted Chinese formula killed six infants and sickened thousands of others – increasing the demand for foreign milk products.

Swisstouches Hotel Xi’an is the first Swiss luxury business and leisure hotel in the capital city of Shaanxi province. A new, inspiring brand with origins in the beautiful Swiss Alps, Swisstouches Hotels and Resorts entered China in 2010. It offers the famous Swiss hospitality service and quality with a focus on making all business and leisure guests feel very welcome under the motto “our hotel is your home”. “Swisstouches aims to bring unique Swiss hospitality experiences delivered with the high-quality standards of a Swiss watch into the Chinese market,” said Ian Larmour, CEO of the company. “We are very proud that, this year, the Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Beijing presented us with the prestigious Swiss 2013 Business Award – Startup of the Year. “It is a true honor for Swisstouches Hotels to get this award, and we will work enthusiastically to develop this beautiful Swiss hospitality brand into more cities in China soon.”

The recently signed free trade agreement between Switzerland and China will help Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprngli to establish itself as the preferred premium chocolate brand in the country, according to the company. As one of the originators of the globally renowned Swiss chocolate culture, Lindt’s heritage dates back to the year 1845. Currently, Lindt chocolates are available in more than 40 cities at nearly 3,000 sales outlets. Andreas Pfluger, vice-president responsible for Asian market believes there is tremendous potential for growth in the Chinese market. Currently per capita chocolate consumption on the Chinese mainland is about 100 grams a year, compared to 500 g in Taiwan, 1.6 kilograms in Japan and 12 Kg in Switzerland. More and more chocolate is being sold in China. And the number will grow even larger.

Darley, the global thoroughbred breeding operation, and its China representative Shankai Sports announced that 15 young Chinese nationals have graduated on June 25 from the Dubai International Thoroughbred Internships programme and a further twelve have graduated from the Darley Jockey Training Programme. This project is one of the few equestrian exchanges between China and Dubai. Another example is the Dubai World Cup – the prestigious horse race, to which VIP guests are invited from around the world. In recent years, Shankai Sports has handled the China operations of this event. In 2013, nearly 50 Chinese guests attended the event, forming the largest national delegation. The Dubai World Cup began in 1996 and has been held at the spectacular Meydan race course since 2010. The Dubai World Cup is the sports event with the highest prize in the world. On July 26, the Head of the Trade and Investment Promotion of Brazilian Embassy Mr. Hayle Gadelha, came to the Shankai Sports office to discuss the arrangements for the promotion of the 2014 World Cup.

Top10 China will provide technical support for the BigEE (bridging the information gap on Energy Efficiency in buildings) program from July 1st 2013. BigEE is a network platform for energy efficiency in the building sector. Corporately launched by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (FME) and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Wuppertal Institute), it aims to spread new energy saving techniques, to advertise related policy and establish a communication platform for energy saving techniques.

Nestlé has opened two new factories in China as it continues to grow its business in the country by investing in its portfolio of local and global brands. The Swiss food and beverage group has opened a CHF 133 million (EUR 107 million) Nescafé coffee factory in Shandong Province, followed by a CHF 319 million (EUR 257 million) Yinlu Foods factory in Anhui Province. More than 2,000 new jobs have been created with the opening of the Yinlu Foods factory, built through Nestlé’s partnership with China’s leading producer of ready-to-drink peanut milk and ready-to-eat rice congee. Yinlu products, which also include ready-to-eat red bean congee and ready-to-eat oat congee, are tailored to Chinese consumers’ taste and preferences. They complement Nestlé’s existing product range in China, which includes culinary, coffee, confectionery, bottled water, milk powder and products for the food service industry.

Swiss food giant Nestlé has pledged to slash the price of its baby milk formulas sold in China by as much as 20% following a Chinese government investigation into alleged price fixing. Demand for Western formulas in China has rocketed since tainted local supplies caused the deaths of infants in 2008. But the Chinese authorities suspected that foreign firms were taking unfair advantage of the surge in interest for their products. Vevey-based Nestlé responded to the probe by announcing a range of price cuts to its Wyeth Nutrition products. Nestlé bought Wyeth from United States firm Pfizer for USD 12 billion (CHF 11 billion) last year in a bid to boost its global footprint in infant nutrition, especially in Asia.