Global food and beverage company: Building the capabilities for enterprise transformation

1 min read

Capability Activation

Facing a hostile takeover attempt and a recession, a global food and beverage company needed capabilities it did not yet have at scale. We helped it build new leadership and innovation skills across the business through hands-on teams rather than training courses, delivering more than 10% sales growth in its water division and a 40% cut in carbon footprint.

Outcome 1: More than 10% sales growth in the water division, with growth across others
Outcome 2: 40% reduction in carbon footprint across all brands
Outcome 3: Record revenue, with a substantial share from emerging markets

The challenge

A global food and beverage company faced two threats at once: an attempt to take it over and an economic recession. Holding its position meant building capabilities it did not yet have at scale, new ways to innovate, to work across functions, and deep sustainability know-how spread across the business rather than locked in one team. These capabilities had to produce results quickly, not just in the long run.

Without them, the company would lose ground to faster rivals on health, sustainability and emerging markets, its leadership skills would fall short of what the strategy needed, and cultural change would stay an aspiration rather than a reality.

The approach

With the leadership team, we launched a company-wide transformation built on a shared set of leadership behaviours. Employees at every level were brought into cross-functional teams and given real responsibility for innovation and sustainability. Rather than run training courses, we built the skills, behaviours and mindsets through hands-on, company-wide participation, and set a 40% carbon reduction target at the heart of it.

The impact

Sales in the water division grew by more than 10%, with growth across other divisions and record overall revenue, much of it from emerging markets. Carbon footprint fell by 40% across all brands, employees built genuine new leadership and innovation skills through real work, and the company became a recognised global leader in sustainable, health-focused transformation.