Diethelm Bangkok had been distributing the sweetened condensed milk Bear, and the malt drink Ovaltine, both direct competitors of Nestlé products, very successfully. When, in 1970, Nestlé bought the company which produced Bear, Diethelm feared losing the fruitful contract.

The story then took an unexpected turn when Nestlé offered Diethelm the chance to become the exclusive distributor for all their products in Thailand. The offer was very appealing but represented a risk of non-diversification, especially since Nestlé demanded that Diethelm gives up Ovaltine.

As Ovaltine belonged to Sandoz, there was a danger that by terminating the Ovaltine partnership agreement, the office would also lose its important pharmaceutical contract with Sandoz.

To solve this issue, the diplomatic skills of Luk Keller were called for. He successfully negotiated that Sandoz agree to terminate the Ovaltine contract while allowing Diethelm to continue marketing the pharmaceutical products in Thailand.

It all goes to show: we combine tenacity and negotiation skills with winning charm and an engaging manner towards counterparts to achieve optimal results for our company.