SUMOL

: leading brand in a changing market

Abstract

SUMOL+COMPAL is a Portuguese beverage company founded in 2009 as a result of a merger of two major competitors within the beverage industry, SUMOL and COMPAL. This case study portrays the carbonated flavoured soft drinks (CFSD) industry in Portugal, where SUMOL+COMPAL compete with others through their brand SUMOL – leading brand. During its lifetime, SUMOL tackled several challenges, but in the last couple of years, another one has emerged– private labels such as Continente and Pingo Doce. Firstly these private labels started selling their own-branded “niche” products and as time passed they became mainstream brands. Due to the current economic crisis established in Portugal, people look for more economical solutions for their food needs and assume that private labels give them more economical options. Years passed and in 2012, it was clear it is no longer a cyclical reaction to the economic crisis; it is the new market landscape. Sílvia Rebelo, SUMOL+COMPAL strategic marketing manager for soft drinks, and her team are responsible for addressing this issue and decide which strategy they should adopt: compete against private labels or cooperate with them. In a fast moving consumer goods industry, retailers are a key player and CFSD industry is no exception but besides that SUMOL, as a leading brand, have been able to keep their market share intact in the last few years without any direct effort towards the matter.

Date of Award	17 Apr 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo Alexandre Gonçalves Marcos (Supervisor) & Paulo Borges de Assunção (Co-Supervisor)