Tiger Brands’ Bakeries business Albany is refreshing its brand positioning and encouraging more people to celebrate their ‘realness’.

In the last year, the Tiger Brands Bakeries management team have set out to execute a five-year strategic roadmap for the business, aimed at driving volume growth and strengthening the business’ position through innovation.

The introduction of a new brand positioning for Albany is one of the focus areas for Tiger Brands as the company works to grow volume in the general trade, while maintaining the momentum in gaining market share in the competitive top-end grocer segment.

The Bakeries category is also benefitting from a focused capital expenditure (capex) rollout programme at key bakeries with investments to drive innovation and automation and improve efficiencies.

Over the past decade, Tiger Brands says it has invested around R9.6-billion in capex to expand capacity and improve operational efficiencies in its Bakeries business. This includes investments in building new bakeries in Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, and Bellville, in the Western Cape.

“Albany is bringing ‘real’ back to life and reminding South Africans that bread is at the centre of some of the most beautiful but simple everyday moments, even in the not-so-good times.

“Whether it’s indulging in a perfectly made sandwich, mopping up the last bits of gravy with a fresh slice of bread or knowing you can always rely on a fresh loaf when loadshedding strikes unexpectedly, Albany is the perfect bread for an imperfect world,” says Tiger Brand Bakeries marketing director Lorraine de Graaff.

“Albany is the largest of Tiger Brands’ brands.

“To maintain this leadership position and grow in the highly competitive local bread category, Tiger Brands recognises the importance of ensuring the Albany brand is rejuvenated in a way that is clearly differentiated from other brands, and even more meaningful for consumers, in order to deliver sustainable long-term growth and remain true to our purpose to nourish and nurture more lives every day,” says Tiger Brands chief marketing and strategy officer Zayd Abrahams.

“To secure new sources of growth, it’s important for us to position the Albany brand in accordance with the needs and demands of our consumers, especially in the challenging economic environment that the country finds itself in,” indicates De Graaff.

Through a series of interactive workshops with consumers, the company says that it was evident that brand’s position should be centred on the idea of ‘bringing real back to life’.

“When we look at the bread category, we see unrealistic expectations of perfectionism in society reflected through communications and overall representation of people, life, and bread. The bread category perpetuates this in their picture-perfect curation of everyday life and bread moments that don’t reflect reality.

“Albany challenges this stereotype by holding up and celebrating ‘real’ – real people, real bread moments and real life,” says De Graaff.