Case study 4 – Lyons Coffee

Hughes Consultancy was approached by Gala Coffee, the owner of the Lyons Coffee brand, in early 2008 to review the brand and its marketing strategy. Gala Coffee, which is part of Drie Mollen (one of the world’s leading coffee businesses), is Europe’s largest producer of own-brand coffee, with customers including Waitrose and Tesco. With this backdrop of own-brand, it was clear that the Lyons brand needed greater focus which Roger Hughes was quickly able to give it and specifically:

• Refine its brand strategy and specifically its position in a crowded market
• Establish a proper and cost-effective marketing strategy
• Have the packaging for some of its key product redesigned to align it properly with the above strategies
• Help identify opportunities for additional products (which have gone ahead)

One output of the work has been to help secure considerable capital investment from the parent company for increased production.

Roger’s keen interest and understanding in sustainability and the ethical sourcing of product have also been of huge benefit on this project, and specific work has included stronger ties with the Rainforest Alliance.