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Revitalizing the brand requires finding and satisfying a new, important customer need. Brand success requires the best in something relevant and differentiated. It means never taking your eyes off changing customer needs.

With veganism and vegetarianism diets becoming more and more embedded in people’s lifestyles, anything plant based is now perceived as good. Plant-based foods and beverages are considered healthy and environmentally friendly. This image seems to override the idea that processing also takes place in their production.

Margarine is a non-dairy spread that has previously been marginalized due to its hydrogenation, which converts polyunsaturated fatty acids into saturated and trans fatty acids. Due to the hydrogenation and the non-buttery texture and taste, margarine sales have declined over the past decade. But now margarine is transforming itself into a healthier kitchen because margarine is naturally plant-based. And hydrogenation is no longer used to make margarine more solid and texturally closer to milk butter. Current alternative brands of plant-based butter contain healthy unsaturated fats. Brands like Country Crock, ridiculed as pale non-dairy substitutes, are now desirable as manufacturers update and revamp the ingredients. Margarine has now become a favorite of the masses of alternative eating habits.

Margarine has an interesting past. France’s first president (1848-1852), Napoleon III, nephew Napoleon I, asked for an alternative to butter due to food shortages that affected the French army. Hippolte Mege-Mouries, chemist, created “Oleomargarine” and the rest is history.

Unilever built a global margarine and distribution business that included over 100 brands including Flora, I can’t believe it’s not butter, Country Crock. After a very expensive bidding war, the investment firm KKR won the award in 2017 and offered Unilever around 7.7 billion US dollars (6.8 billion euros). The acquired business was incorporated under a new business unit called Upfield.

Usually the terms brand revitalization and private equity are not used in the same sentence, so kudos to KKR. Instead of starving the previous Unilever brands, KKR saw an opportunity that couldn’t be overlooked: the attractiveness and profitability of plant-based foods. With some recipe changes and new marketing, KKR could leverage its portfolio as a healthier, more sustainable way to eat.

The focus is on the power of brands

Some products were dropped, but this should focus on the brands that fit the repositioning of the overarching portfolio. This new positioning is clearly formulated on the Upfield website… “We are the world’s largest plant-based consumer goods company and we are on our way to offer our customers and consumers alike a better plant-based future. ”Along with this declaration is the commitment to sustainability, including a strategy paper entitled“ A better plant-based future ”.

According to the Financial Times, Upfield is determined to change the image of margarine. Focusing on margarine sustainability, Upfield is changing its ingredient lists by “… reducing each product to around five natural ingredients to create cleaner labels”. The Financial Times reports that KKR originally intended to “… eliminate inefficiencies, but adopted a new strategy after seeing consumer appetite for” sexy “plant-based foods.” Apparently, Upfield made the right decision given net sales 2019 increased by 1.3%. And the Good Food Institute reported, “… Sales of plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs in the US increased 11% year over year to $ 5 billion in 2019.”

In the US, Earth Balance is one of Upfield’s largest competitors. Earth Balance is a two-decade-old company that makes vegan alternative butter spreads, nut butters, and snacks. The products are vegan, plant-based and GMO-free. The products were developed to create “… a conscious, rewarding way of life”. As part of his philosophy, his original commitment is to be “ethically vegetable”. The palm oil used is a non-genetically modified, non-hydrogenated oil. Earth Balance is involved in the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which advocates environmentally and socially compatible palm oil production.

Upfield also focuses on sustainable palm oil. Upfield states that it also obtains 100% of its palm oil from physically certified sustainable sources. In addition, as part of its investment, Upfield is investing 50 million euros in a new Food Science Center in Wageningen, the Netherlands, which, according to foodnavigator.com, will focus on sustainability, health and taste of plant-based foods.

The current eating scene is subject to major changes. There is no evidence as to which eating and cooking behavior persists or drops off quickly. It is clear that the attractiveness of plant-based food alternatives is a growing customer requirement. By revitalizing a brand by focusing on satisfying changing customer habits and attitudes, brands remain relevant to sustained profitable growth.

Contribution to Branding Strategy Insider by: Larry Light, CEO of Arcature

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