Marilan invests to dispute markets of cakes and toasts
Valor Econômico
The venture in cookies, started more than 50 years ago, has not seemed enough for Marilan, third largest manufacturer of cookies of the country, behind M. Dias Branco and Nestlé. The company, headquartered in Marília (SP), and owner of gross sales of R$ 509 million in 2008 (US$ 278.1 million), started threatening the vice-leadership of Nestlé last year, but the Brazilian branch of the largest international food company took a leap in the São Paulo market, influenced especially by whole fiber cookies of the new brand called "Combina com". Marilan keeps the third place, but it is willing to go farther and go into niches where its great direct rivals are (still) not present: toasts and industrialized cakes.
"The profit margin is greater in these categories than in cookies, which keeps only a vegetative growth", says Jaílton de Abreu, CEO of Marilan. According to him, while the cookie is present in 90% of the Brazilian homes, cakes and toasts have a long way to go from the supermarket shelves to the consumers' storeroom: the index of penetration of these products is at less than one third of the homes.
"They are markets that offer a lot of space to grow, because even though there are many competitors, including the own brands of supermarkets, the consumption is still small", emphasizes Nicanor Guerreiro Filho, marketing manager of Marilan. In order to test the market, Marilan decided outsourcing the production. Selmi, also located in the interior of São Paulo, owner of the brand Renata, will produce the cakes, while Charlotte, from the state of Paraná, will be responsible for the toasts. The products will start landing the shelves still this month and will already bring the new logo of the company, created by the agency 100% Design. "Depending on the results, we decide for our own production", says Abreu, who invested nearly R$ 1 million (US$ 526.3 thousand) in the development of the products.
Marilan's plan is to reach 8% of market share in cakes and 10% in toasts in three years. The main strategy is to adopt a price between 5% and 10% below the leaders. The products will be distributed, at a first moment, in the Southern and Southeastern regions.