Sabra — Chip Walker

Sabra: How to Grow from $50MM to $500MM in Five Years?

Situation

Pepsico had entered into a joint venture with Israel's Strauss Foods to expand their leading hummus brand, Sabra, to the US market
The catch: Sabra needed to grow from $50MM to $500MM quickly to be a viable business for Pepsico, which demands that all its businesses have scale
But to do so Sabra would have to break out of both the hummus and "Mediterranean" food categories, which were simply too small
THE ASK: A 'corporate vision" for the JV ("The Sabra Dipping Company") that would enable it go get to $500MM in five years – informing sales, innovation, communication and company culture.

Complication

To reach our ambitious goals, we needed to introduce tens of millions of mainstream Americans to hummus and to Sabra -- but many of them reacted to both as very foreign and strange. It would not be an easy sell.

Truth

We discovered that hummus and Sabra were a ‘Blue State’ phenomenon: people on the coasts and Great Lakes areas were just more attracted to ‘foreign’ foods. That said, we learned that there actually was a large, receptive audience in ‘Red State’ America, one that was open to new and different food experiences. But many of them told us they were in a ‘food rut’ – buying the same foods at their local supermarket over and over again. They craved something different, and interested in learning about foods from around the world. But they needed it served up on their terms -- they wanted foods that were interesting but not TOO foreign, and easily accessible in their grocery store.

Idea

Making the Authentic Accessible: Sabra offers an amazing journey of exploration and discovery of delicious ethnic food experiences -- right in your own home.

Creative Expression

From: A Hummus Brand -- "Go Mediterranean"

To: A "World Food Brand" -- "Adventure Awaits"

SEE BRAND FILM AND BRAND BOOK BELOW

Results

Through both acquisitions (e.g., Holy Guacamole) and product development, the Sabra brand product line quickly expanded to include tastes from all over the world -- not just Hummus, but Greek Yogurt Dips, Salsa & Guacamole, Moroccan Matbucha, Turkish Salad, Babaganoush, Caponata, and so on.
Sabra sales reached $500MM on schedule; the brand has developed a cult following across the USA.

My Role

Led the winning pitch to become Sabra's US creative agency, and was lead on the account. Led cross-functional client-agency team across US and Israel.

What We Did/How Got There

In depth qual and quant consumer research, concept development and testing, I personally wrote and made presentation to sell in our recommendations to the JV board in Israel.