Milka Wins Fourth Golden Brand Award as Favorite Chocolate of Georgian Customers

Milka, one of nine global chocolate brands in the Mondelēz International family, won its fourth Golden Brand award in a row in the category “favorite chocolate brand”.

About 2,000 customers and more than 100 experts who participated in the survey of Golden Brand named Milka their favorite chocolate.

Nino Enukidze, Perfect Store Activation Manager of Mondelēz Georgia, shared her impressions of Milka’s win in an interview with Golden Brand.

Q. Georgian customers have named Milka their favorite chocolate brand again this year. What brought Milka this recognition, in your opinion?
A. We enjoy two keys to success ⁠— first the power of the Milka brand, and second, brand communication.

Last year we also significantly increased investment in media and digital, launched a new equity campaign, and updated Milka packaging.

Altogether, this helped us to win the hearts of our consumers again.

Q. Golden Brand is given to brands following successful operations of the previous year. Please summarize the year 2022.
A. It was a tough year for the whole team, but we managed to drive positive changes in the market in Georgia through intensified digital activity and strong media support, and outdoor campaigns during the Christmas season.

Last year we were also happy to get the global Effie award, which inspires and champions the practice and practitioners of marketing effectiveness globally, for the Milka “Tender Words” campaign. For us it’s a very important award, as it reflects our efforts to inspire tenderness among people and make relationships between people a little more caring and tender.

Milka grew by double digits in our country last year.

Q. How has 2023 begun for your company, and what are your expectations?
A. We began this year with the new equity rollout on all the platforms. We also carried out a tailor-made promo with Spar, and a spring seasonal with Milka pralines.

Q. What are some recent developments of Milka as a brand? Please share the brand's progress on the Georgian market.
A. Milka is positioned globally as an ambassador of tenderness, that’s what we stand for and what we have brought to our consumers over 100 years all over the world. Recently in Georgia we have kept our focus on tenderness in line with the global equity message.

Q. Please tell us about the future plans of Milka in Georgia. Do you plan to introduce new products to Georgia and which would those be?
A. Georgian customers are one of the most snack-friendly audiences. We see that they are eager to try new products and flavors. That’s why we are encouraged to offer new products. But precise flavors and design are a secret!

Q. What share does Georgia have in Milka’s global presence?
A. We consider the Georgian market a focus market for our business.

Years of work here have shown that local customers greet our innovations with enthusiasm and excitement. So we definitely want to continue investments in the growth of our brand here.

Q. Please tell us your opinion, what makes Milka unique and why do Georgian customers love it?
A. Milka is unique because of the tenderness of its chocolate and smooth milky taste – this is what brings customers back to us.

Q. What investments does Mondelez make in Georgia to promote Milka?
A. We are increasing our investments in TV, digital and outdoor every year with special attention to the Georgian market as we see positive feedback from consumers here. Milka Georgia is one of the biggest markets in Eurasia BU and we focus on that.

Mildiani Family Winery: 32 Years of Winemaking Expertise

It all began with the love of wine-making, which united four brothers of the Mildiani family to establish a winery and continue 8,000 years of Georgian history with the best combination of traditional and modern methods.

Eldari, Levani, Leri and Pridoni’s first step was to buy locally-produced wine and export it to Russia. The brothers saw there was potential in the business and decided to create a wine pouring enterprise in the country’s ancient city of Mtskheta back in the ‘90s.

Soon a ceramic shop was also built there that produced different kinds of ceramic bottles for wine. The bottled wine was sold for export.

After a few years the brothers moved from Mtskheta to the country’s wine region of Kakheti, where they established a private wine company in the special winery microzone of the village of Tsinandali. Since then the company has been producing the best quality wines and other grape-based alcohol beverages.

These have gained many international awards and badges over the years. The 2002 harvest Saperavi wine of Mildiani Winery was awarded a silver badge in the Paris 2004 international wine contest Vinalies Internationales. It was the first Georgian wine to receive such an award since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Today Mildiani Family Winery owns vineyards in different winery zones in Kakheti, including the Kindzmarauli, Napareuli and Tsinandali microzones, and is now a group comprised of Tsinandali Old Marani, Gurjaani Wine Marani, souvenir wine enterprise Vazi-1, and a distribution company, Letre.

The company produces not only wine, but brandy, chacha and other alcoholic beverages, and sells their product not only in Georgia but in 21 other countries.

Being a winner of Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards, Mildiani has thus also been praised and awarded with the local business award of Golden Brand.

Eldar Mildiani talked with Golden Brand about their family label’s wines.

Q. The experts and customers who participated in the survey of Golden Brand lauded Mildiani Family Winery’s successful activities of 2022 and named it their favorite winery. Could you please summarize 2022?
A. First of all, thank you for this wonderful award. It really means a lot to us.
I think that purposefulness and many years of hard work have yielded this result.

Regulations imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19 were lifted in Georgia like in other countries of the world and as a business we finally became free in 2022. Despite the pandemic and the decline in sales in previous years, we paid attention to the market as before. This in itself raised the level of trust in our winery. I think that was one of the main factors that led us to the Golden Brand award.

High quality and the variety of our portfolio also made an impression on experts and customers.

Q. I agree, Mildiani Family Winery is truly distinguished with its diverse products, which are very different from what other companies are offering. Please introduce your wines to our readers.
A. As you know, we produce wine-based drinks. These are wine, chacha, brandy, sparkling wine, liquor wine, wine in ceramics, wines in souvenir packaging, honey vodka Tapluchi, and others. In total we produce about 150 sorts of alcoholic beverages.

Q. Wine fermented in the traditional qvevri clay vessels, buried underground and made with grapes of French origin but grown in Kakheti, was especially popular. How did this idea come about?
A. Yes, you are talking about Cabernet Sauvignon. This grape variety has been cultivated in Kakheti for a long time. The idea of putting it in a qvevri arose by itself. We were wondering what the qvevri’s Cabernet would be like. Our hopes were justified and will continue production of this wine variety in the future.

Q. In general, what kind of winemaking technology has the winery developed over the years?
A. I probably wouldn't call it our technology, but we have our signature, of course.

Q. You also offer dessert wines, liqueurs with chocolate and cherry flavors ⁠— how popular is this line among consumers and how did you create these products?
A. Practice has shown that people interested in flavored wine are quite an important part of our society. We just try to have a product for every taste.

Q. Please tell us which countries Mildiani wines are exported to?
A. Mildiani wine is exported to almost all continents of the world, including in many European countries such as Germany, France, Poland, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary. We export to England, America and Canada. We cooperate with Ukraine and different post-Soviet countries.

We are also active in the Asian market. China and Japan are our largest partner countries in Asia.

Our company tries its best to expand its presence on the international market and popularize Georgian wine all over the world.

Q. What are the sales statistics on the domestic market?
A. We are satisfied with the sales figures of 2022. Compared to the previous year, we had an increase of 28%. At the moment we are in the top five in terms of market share. Both our qvevri line and classic wines are selling well and are profitable.

Kordzadze Law Office Wins 14th Golden Brand Award as Favorite Legal Firm

Kordzadze Law Office, one of the leading law firms in Georgia, has been given the Golden Brand award for the fourteenth time.
Throughout its history, Kordzadze Law Office has gained a reputation as a reliable, ethical and highly professional law firm.
In this interview Zviad Kordzadze, the managing partner and attorney at Kordzadze Law Office, talked about what led the company to this unchanged recognition from over 100 experts and 2,000 customers involved in the Golden Brand survey.
Q. This year is the eighteenth Golden Brand award ceremony, and in which Kordzadze Law Office has won a fourteenth time. How have you managed to keep this recognition for so many years?
A. Victory in this category has become a tradition for Kordzadze Law Office, although obviously this victory does not come automatically. This is the result of the hard work of the office’s employees, each lawyer year after year, and we are happy that our work is appreciated.
Q. Golden Brand is given to the companies following the previous year’s activities. Please summarize 2022.
A. 2022 was significant and peculiar not only for business, but for humanity in general, as it was a year of complete liberation from the pandemic. Last year it became obvious that in 2023 business would also return to pre-pandemic levels.
Our business depends on the inflow of investments into the country, how much the businesses need legal services, etc. When there are no investment activities, there is no need for legal services.
Like many other companies in Georgia and the whole world, we also faced difficulties during the pandemic; with a crisis situation and nothing happening in the world, investors tried to save money and were less engaged in business, so the work of lawyers also decreased.
2022 was important for our office as a very interesting new niche was identified ⁠— medical law, in particular services related to assisted reproductive technologies, including gamete donation and surrogacy, which is led by firm partner Nino Bogveradze.
Q. What are your expectations for 2023?
A. Expectations for 2023 are positive, we think that business will become more active, and more people will need legal support. We have several ideas we’re planning to put forward. We want to offer several new products to the market, which I will not talk about in detail now, but I will tell you that the importance of these products is in their uniqueness.
Q. Your legal work is connected to a number of high-profile cases. How difficult is it to work on similar cases in Georgia, when in some cases you actually have the government as the "respondent" party?
A. There is only one thing that causes cases to become public ⁠— when proper justice is not done. This is what distinguishes high-profile and non-high-profile cases, otherwise it requires the same effort from the lawyer.
At such times, there are contradictions that are not related to law, and this is the biggest complaint against the court. It’s when someone games the system and places themselves above the law.
Speaking of our office’s high-profile cases, I cannot avoid mentioning the Khazaradze-Japaridze case. The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into possible money laundering on 2 August 2018, summoning TBC Bank’s founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze to charge them with laundering $16,754,000. Last year Khazaradze and Japaridze were found guilty of fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison by Tbilisi City Court, but due to the statute of limitations their prison time was waived.
Even in that situation, the result was a great success and achievement. It is difficult, but we are not going to stop even at this satisfactory result, and if we run out of leverage within the framework of Georgian justice, we will use the leverage of the European Court of Human Rights. By the way, I would like to mention that the mood of the client is very important in this whole process. When they are willing to participate in such a long battle, it is an additional incentive and tool for us, lawyers, to successfully complete the case.
Q. The use of modern technology in the justice system ⁠— what do you think about this issue? How realistic is it that artificial intelligence will one day replace the lawyer's profession?
A. In general, people perceive everything new as a threat. Ultimately, those who do not perceive technological innovations as a threat use them as a means and move forward accordingly. Back to your question, I don't think artificial intelligence will ever be a threat to the legal field, and I have arguments for it. It will be an additional tool, like the internet, Google, etc. It will simplify the performance of technical operations.
It is certainly a very useful aid in the process of giving form, sorting, and searching for evidence, but artificial intelligence will never replace the process of making decisions in jurisprudence. A process in which the moment of subjectivity is important, which is related to emotions, inner beliefs and such sensations that are characteristic of a human being. Certain professions will no longer exist years from now and will be replaced by artificial intelligence, but lawyers and judges cannot be replaced by any technology.
Q. Kordzadze Law Office has been actively involved in art support and various social projects for years. What is your company's involvement in similar projects, and in general, what is the company's charity strategy this year?
A. Our support to theaters is visible because these theaters always announce us as a partner in presenting performances; and we are engaged in other social activities, such as pro bono cases. Still, I don't think it's right to use it for PR. The office will continue such activities to the best of its ability.
One thing I can say is that it is very important that the beneficiary people or groups are correctly selected within the scope of the social responsibility activity and that the aid is directed correctly and not to serve only PR. For example, we cooperate with non-governmental organizations who know people's needs and give us the right direction. In general, sympathy towards other more vulnerable groups is very important and we must remember that if we want to be part of the European community, this is the benefit and advantage of this community.

Kährs Offering High Quality Wood Floors for all Rooms and Styles in Georgia

Swedish manufacturer of wood and vinyl floors Kährs is continuing to “work” the wood flooring industry with a series of innovations and flooring solutions for homes in Georgia.

As an exclusive importer of Swedish flooring materials, Kährs Georgia brings its expertise accumulated over 160 years of existence and new ideas on how to improve floors, make them more attractive, stronger, easier to install, and more sustainable.

Customers in Georgia also expressed their gratitude toward the company when it named Kährs Georgia as their favorite “flooring materials” brand in the country. In addition to customers, experts from different fields who participated in the Golden Brand survey also recognized Kährs Georgia in this nomination, giving the company its first Golden Brand award.

Kährs has been supplying products to more than 70 countries, including Georgia, since 2019. Today Kährs floors can be found in homes, offices, shops, hotels, concert halls, theaters and sports arenas across the country, and the company is proud of its strong presence on the Georgian market.

Deputy Director of Kährs Georgia Elene Gvaramadze reviewed with Golden Brand the success behind the company on the local market.

Q. Let’s talk about the Golden Brand awards, as you are a newcomer. How has the company gained so much trust and love from customers in such a short period of time?
A. Since the opening of Kährs Georgia, our company has been focused on offering customers the highest quality products and services, which has led to customer trust. We were also actively involved in promoting the brand and wanted to become known to a wider audience. These factors helped a lot to win us the Golden Brand award this year, which we are very thankful for.

Q. As the award is given to the companies based on the successful activities of the previous year, could you please review 2022 and share some highlights?
A. 2022 was fruitful for our company as the demand for our products increased. I would also like to mention that last year we worked with hotels, sports halls and laboratories, so we moved beyond residential installations.

We saw demand from designers, architects and construction companies. So awareness, number of products, and loyal customers have all increased.

Q. Can you remember what the first product that Kährs Georgai brought to our market was and how many products are in the company’s portfolio as of today?
A. The first product we introduced was a three-strip parquet. Currently we offer our customers up to 400 models of two-strip and three-strip parquet.

We also have an innovative product, vinyl, with a wide selection and continuously updated collections.

We also offer customers ecologically clean materials from the Italian floor brand Tover, such as floor and vinyl glue and primer.

We also have parquet care products, and flooring and renovation services.

Q. Laminate is very popular in our market because, unlike wood parquet, it is more affordable. Kährs parquets are quite expensive for mass consumption. How popular are Kährs parquets in Georgia, and please share the sales figures.
A. Our strategy is offering our customers an ecologically clean and high-quality product. Of course, the price of wood parquet is different from laminate flooring and is more expensive, however the price between our quality laminate and budget parquet is small.

Also there is vinyl, which competes with laminate both in terms of price and quality as a budget product with high quality.

In general, Kährs’ portfolio is very diverse as we offer both budget and premium line products. Our products are affordable for the middle and high segments.

As for sales statistics, last year Kährs Georgia saw an 80% increase compared to 2021. In the past years customers chose more budget models, but in 2022 this trend changed and we mostly work on premium class models.

The most in-demand in 2022-2023 is spruce flooring, of which we have a wide variety.

Q. Please share some future plans with our readers.
A. We have received different collections of new vinyls. We have also received a floor covering that is used in cliniles, which does not have much competition in the Georgian market.

We also went for a quartz vinyl floor and a floor with zero-sound insulation that can be used in any type of commercial space, be it a clinic, laboratory, airport or school.

We have also obtained a hypoallergenic wall coating and added new cleaning products to our portfolio.

Finally, we are thinking about opening a new branch in Georgia. Currently, Kährs Georgia is represented by only one store which is located at 2 Vazha-Pshavela in Tbilisi.