Purpose Realignment in a Legacy Food Brand
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The Story
A forty-year-old, well-known food brand in the MENA and CIS markets had grown, but not in proportion to the market around it. Employing around 1,600 people across production and trading entities in the UAE and India, the company still found itself fighting smaller competitors for everyday market share. Growth was happening, but it was slow, reactive, and fragile.
The root issue was strategic: although the company had moved from trading into production, it was never fully clear about the problem it existed to solve. In an intensely crowded category of ready-to-cook products and food ingredients, it had no sharp purpose or defined market position. Decisions about which products to introduce or discontinue were often based on leadership preferences or short-term sales opportunities, rather than a coherent, long-term strategy. The brand image outside and the decision logic inside were not speaking the same language.
Over a 12‑month consulting engagement, ATBC set out to change that from the inside.
Situation
- Multi-decade legacy food brand with operations in UAE and India
- Markets across the wider MENA and CIS region
- Around 1,600 employees
- Slower growth than the overall market, frequent loss of ground to smaller competitors
- No clear articulation of purpose or market position
- Product decisions driven by instinct and opportunism rather than strategy
Challenge
- Absence of a clear problem–solution definition
- Misalignment between external brand and internal decision-making
- Fragmented communication and inconsistent execution
ATBC Intervention
- 12‑month engagement, with the first 3 months focused on discovery
- In-depth interviews, surveys, workshops, discussions, and quizzes
- Identification of internal values, driving forces, and cultural patterns
- Clarification of misalignments in communication and strategy
- Crafting of a driving philosophy, refined vision and mission, and shared core values
- Development of a comprehensive strategic plan integrating philosophy, objectives, budgets, and policies, all aligned with the Quadruple Bottom Line framework
- Creation of a multi-layered decision-making framework and close handholding for implementation
Outcomes
- Organisation-wide clarity on purpose and position
- Stronger sense of belonging; employees began to see the business as a mission, not just a job
- Rationalised product portfolio, strengthening brand identity and visibility
- Optimised credit policies leading to more predictable cash flow and better supplier relationships
- Clearer path to stronger financial health and improved growth momentum, with expectations of more stable and consistent performance over the coming years
