This is how Amor cookies are made, a product that is present in 95% of Ecuadorian homes

It is square in shape and usually has between two or three soft biscuits. And in the middle goes the cream, which can be vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or even hazelnut. This is the characteristic shape of Amor cookies, a traditional product of the multinational Nestlé.

This company has been producing in Ecuador for more than 30 years, but its products have been consumed for more than 50 years, and one of them is the Amor cookie.

This was stated by Christian Guerrero, Vice President of Confectionery Business at Nestlé Ecuador, who indicates that this brand is very close to the “heart”, to tradition. “This brand is even associated with grandparents. We followed them for more than half of this time,” he says.

Each year, this brand has been growing between 8% and 9% for the last five years. Amor cookies alone produce 300 million packages, which means they are consumed by 95% of Ecuadorian families.

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“Amor is one of the fastest growing brands within the organization, which is on the border of double digits. Home penetration is over 95%, that is, the entire Ecuadorian family has Amor biscuits in their home at some point during the year. So the penetration of Love is very high. And this is transversal,” says Guerrero, adding that there is no specific age that consumes it. They have a registration of 18 years, 50 years and children.

This product is part of Nestlé’s extensive portfolio that began in the 1960s with imports from various places around the world and was consolidated in 1970, Guerrero says.

That sale was through Comercial Panamericana, which was located in Guayaquil. Chocolates and candies were imported from Switzerland. In fact, in 1963 they reached a peak in sales: one million sucres (the currency of the time).

“I believe that one of the main acquisitions that completes the consolidation of Nestlé’s business in Ecuador is the acquisition of the La Universal biscuit line. That’s where we formally entered the cookie and candy business,” says Guerrero.

Nestlé currently has several product categories: cookies such as Amor and Ricas; dairy products from La Vaquita and La Lechera; instant drinks like Milo; cereals such as Chocapic; chocolates such as Crunch and Galak; cooking such as mayonnaise, mustard, Maggi cube; pet food such as Dog Chow; cookies like Amor y Ricas; and coffee as Nescafé. The entire portfolio amounts to more than 400 million dollars in one year.

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Guerrero explains that there is compound growth in the company, i.e. all its brands between traditional and new. “In recent years, we have been recording around 3% annual growth,” says the CEO.

How do you do that?

Biskvit Ljubav has several variants of 100 grams, 175 and 258 grams. They come in milk double cream, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, classic, orange, lemon, hazelnut and others.

This process begins with a mixture of water, flour, milk and certain flavor essences. These ingredients form a paste that becomes the base for making a wafer, or a thin sheet of wafer.

Then the wafer is baked, which is approximately 30 by 30 centimeters long and wide, and about 2 millimeters thick. Then it goes to the cooling area, where the wafer is placed in the shape of a fan.

When this process comes out, cream is added, which can be vanilla, chocolate or a new hazelnut flavor.

This process is repeated, depending on the presentation. If it’s double cream, that’s three wafers.

When they are ready, they pass through the blades, where a characteristic square of Amor cookies is obtained. The device selects the required amount for each package and closes it.

And this is how they are packed in cartons and stored in warehouses to go to different sales points across the country.

Export

“It’s one of the most beloved brands,” says Guerrero, who states that the Amor cookie reaches the United States and Spain, representing between 1% and 2%.

“We have some distributors working in the United States and Spain. They see Nestlé as an important revenue stream for the business because of that nostalgia market, people looking for that connection,” says Guerrero.

Nestlé has several innovations related to this product, such as the strawberry, vanilla, chocolate and hazelnut double wafer.

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