Arabia and Maldives Growth Strategy
Global
Five-year roadmap, 2026–2030
Growth strategy approved at global Unilever level. Future Menus 2025 adopted as the core regional industry initiative.
Global
Unilever-approved
2030
Five-year roadmap horizon
0
Content pillars rebuilt
0
Markets, one system
The Brief
Unilever Food Solutions is a global B2B foodservice brand serving chefs, restaurants, hotels, and catering operators. The mission: shift the brand's perception from functional ingredient supplier to genuine industry authority, and build the system to sustain that position through 2030.
The Challenge
Three connected problems existed simultaneously. Content lacked a unifying narrative. Execution was inconsistent across markets and product-led messaging limited emotional connection with the audience the brand needed to retain. Brand positioning was trapped. UFS was perceived as a functional supplier rather than the strategic partner that helps operators navigate the future. This gap restricted differentiation and long-term loyalty. The operator journey was completely disconnected. Social, website, email, Academy, and messaging channels operated independently with no defined lifecycle from first discovery through to sustained engagement. Two markets with fundamentally different needs: Arabia (mature, competitive, leadership-focused) and Maldives (emerging, premium, education-led) required distinct execution within one consistent brand system.
What We Did
All communication was re-anchored to a single unifying idea: Made for Today, Prepped for Tomorrow. Every content decision, campaign, and channel touchpoint was tested against this before going live, creating consistency in tone, visuals, and messaging across both markets and all platforms.
Ad-hoc posting was replaced with a purpose-led architecture built around four clear pillars: industry trends through Future Menus, chef education through UFS Academy, real kitchen challenges and practical solutions, and community and culture. Arabia's execution: leadership, innovation, and scale. Maldives execution: premium craftsmanship, sustainability, and inspiration.
Messaging and calls to action were aligned across all owned touchpoints: social, email, website, and Academy, to create a clear progression from discovery through registration, content consumption, and return engagement.
The Academy was repositioned from a promotional asset into the core engagement and retention pillar. Academy touchpoints were embedded naturally into content and email journeys, linking trends and recipes to learning opportunities without feeling forced.
WhatsApp introduced as a direct channel for recipe updates, training reminders, and campaign highlights, delivering significantly higher open and response rates than email alone and creating a more personal connection with chefs.
Reactivation journeys designed for users inactive for 90 days or more. Segmentation distinguished high-engagement from regular users. A controlled cadence of two to three value-led emails per month. Quality over volume.
Operator-specific programs built for five-star hotels, casual dining operators, and local quick-service restaurants. Each program connected training, productivity, culture, and recognition into scalable activation platforms. Received positively by both regional and global stakeholders.
A long-term strategic roadmap developed outlining how UFS builds lasting brand authority, creates repeatable operator engagement systems, scales content and education infrastructure, and cements its role as the voice shaping the future of foodservice in the region. Approved at global Unilever level.
What this means for you
If your marketing is generating activity but not building a brand that operators or clients feel genuinely loyal to, the problem is usually the system behind the content, not the content itself. We fix both.
Selected stills
The Results
Growth strategy approved and greenlit at global Unilever level.
Five-year roadmap (2026 to 2030) built and adopted as the guiding framework for regional operator engagement.
Future Menus 2025 launched and positioned as the industry intelligence platform for the foodservice sector in the region.
Clear shift from functional supplier to recognized industry authority across both markets.
Next case study
New Product GTM Launch and International Expansion
Read case study