MinTat takes on South American job

Minale Tattersfield & Partners has been appointed by Colombian food conglomerate Colombina to rebrand its identity and a host of consumer packaging, as it seeks to grow its market share at home and abroad.

The first phase of the project, which could ultimately be worth £500 000 to the consultancy, begins with an audit of strategic direction and ‘wayfinding’, says Minale Tattersfield & Partners chairman Alex Maranzano. The group expects to earn £100 000 in fees from this first phase.

Colombina is a manufacturer of biscuits, confectionery and preserves, operating multinational partnership agreements with the likes of Wrigleys, General Food Krafts and Joyco of Spain.

According to analyst group South American Business Information, Colombina has a 7 per cent share of its domestic biscuit market – a figure dwarfed by the 52 per cent of market leader Noel, which is also planning to expand.

Colombina, which owns brands such as Bon Bon Bum, Chupetas, Bridge and Ponky, is looking to update the design of its products, as well as extend its ranges into areas such as coffee and tuna, says Maranzano.

Colombina exports around 50 per cent of its products, with Spain being a key European market, he adds.

Colombina chairman Belisario Caicedo Capurro wants an ‘evolution of the brand on all fronts’, says Maranzano, but the details of the brief are still to be worked out.

Maranzano and his managing director Marcello Minale jnr travel to the troubled South American state in September 2001. The country’s new president Alvaro Urbine takes office on 6 August on a platform of increasing military action against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.