Company Analysis: Fivera Foods LLC

Delivered November 8th, 2019. Contributors: Hillary O. and

Early FindingsCompany Analysis: Fivera Foods LLC

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Company Overview - Fivera Foods (Ekoa Brands)

Fivera Foods is Ekoa Brands' manufacturing company. The brand is the American arm of Grupo Cicopal (Cicopal Group). Ekoa Brands is a privately-held company that was created with simple ingredients and flavors - such as pineapples, dates, mango, and coconut. 
History & Current StateEkoa Brands is a subsidiary of Grupo Cicopal (Cicopal Group). The name was inspired by the words "Ecology" and "Oikos" - which means house in Greek. 
The company was founded with the idea that simple ingredients and flavors make consumers feel at home. It is a line of healthy fruit bars.
The brand's products include ingredients that are vegan, gluten free, lactose free, soy free, sugar free, and free of preservatives. 
These ingredients do not have any artificial coloring and flavoring. They are also made with free fruits.
Ekoa claims its bars are the "perfect healthy, low calorie and tasty snack for anytime, anywhere."
Locations & Agency of Record Ekoa Brands has only one location. It is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. 
The brand has not mentioned its agency of record; neither has its parent company, Grupo Cicopal.  
Financial Data & Products Ekoa Brands is a privately-held company that does not offer its financial data to the public.
The company's natural dried fruit bar comes in four flavors. They include coconut, pure banana, pure mango, and pure pineapple. Each costs $21.99.
Research StrategyThere was no website available for Fivera Foods on the public domain. The company's profile was also not found on databases like Crunchbase and Bloomberg; neither was the company featured in any publication. Fivera Foods does not have any social media account as well. As a result, there was no resource that we could use to get the requested data on the company. Further research revealed that it is Ekoa Brands' manufacturing company - both are subsidiaries of Grupo Cicopal (Cicopal Group). Since more information was available on Ekoa Brands, we decided to focus on this company. 

Ekoa Brand's official website was helpful in findings most of the requested information. However, its agency of record or financial data was not offered on its website. Instead, it only provided qualitative information on produces annually. We tried looking for annual reports released by the company but the company is still privately-held and does not offer this information to the public. 

Our next strategy involved perusing Brazilian publications, including Exame and Época Negócios. While an overview of Ekoa Brands was offered by these publications, there was nothing found on the company's agency of record and financials - revenue, profits, and so on. 

As a last resort, we reviewed data intelligence platforms like Hoovers and Craft for Ekoa Brand's revenue, but the company did not have a profile on either database. For its agency of record, we used databases like Effie to find any case studies of Ekoa Brand by a possible agency of record. This, too, was a dead end. We also examined Ekoa Brands recent video ads. Sometimes, companies credit the marketing agencies they work with, in these video ads. Again, none of these ads referenced an agency of record. 

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Company Overview - Grupo Cicopal

Established in 1993, Grupo Cicopal is now the third largest manufacturer in Para, Brazil, and a top snack manufacturer in the country. It currently has three factories, all of which are in Brazil. Grupo Cicopal segments its products into Wheat, Potato, Corn, and Drinks. 
History Grupo Cicopal was founded in the early 1990s as a small importing wholesale business. It opened its first factory in 1993 in Brazil. In 1996, it moved its operations to a more industrial site in Senador Canedo in Brazil. 
By 1998, the company launched its first brand of potato chips, known as Crony and Slight. In 2001, it opened a new factory in North Brazil to supply its market there. 
Grupo Cicopal opened another factory in 2002 in Camaçari, Brazil, to supply the Northeastern part of Brazil. By 2004, it launched its first wheat snack brands called Peticitos and Torresmicos.
The company launched a new line of potato chips in 2006 called Refinata. It also launched two powdered juice brands called Sullper and Micos. In 2011, Grupo Cicopal expanded its headquarters and introduced the production of cookies and wafers.  
In 2013, Grupo Cicopal received an ISO 9001 factory certification. By 2017, it released a new line of natural energy drinks and snacks. 
Current StateCurrently, Grupo Cicopal is one of the top five snack companies in Brazil. It manufactures wheat snacks, cookies, corn snacks, beverages, and potato chips.
It has constructed a "large manufacturing infrastructure with three factories strategically located to optimize distribution and market penetration."
Grupo Cicopal is now focused on sustainable growth and tries to achieve this through strategic partnerships and innovation.
The company now has almost 1,300 partners and employees. Its mission is to "rescue and promote the elements of the Brazilian culture [by] sharing unique moments and flavors through its products." 
Locations & Agency of Record Currently, Grupo Cicopal has three factories. It has one for snacks in Benevides, Brazil. 
It has another in Camaçari, Bahia, in Brazil. The company's third factory is in Senador Canedo, Brazil. 
Grupo Cicopal has not publicly mentioned its agency of record. Its marketing might be in house as several marketing professionals are working for the company. 
Financial Data & Products Grupo Cicopal has invested over $70 million in the Brazilian market and has a total producing capacity of 380 tons of finished product per day.
Its products are categorized into Wheat, Potato, Corn, and Drinks. 
Grupo Cicopal's Wheat products include Sullper, Peticitos, Rosquinhas, Micos, and Torresmicos. 
Its Potato brands include Crony, Slight, and Refinanta, among others.
The company's Corn products include Mikao, Micos, Anelitos, and Chinho. 
Its drinks include Replay, Sullper Fruit Juice, and Micos Cola. 
RESEARCH STRATEGYGrupo Cicopal's official website was helpful in findings most of the requested information. However, its agency of record or financial data was not offered on its website. Instead, it only had data on the tons of snacks it produces annually. We tried looking for annual reports released by the company but the company is still privately-held and does not offer this information to the public. 

Our next strategy involved perusing Brazilian publications, including Exame and Época Negócios. While Grupo Cicopal's history was outlined in these publications, there was nothing found on the company's agency of record and financials - revenue, profits, and so on. 

As a last resort, we reviewed data intelligence platforms like Hoovers and Craft for Grupo Cicopal's revenue, but the company did not have a profile on either database. For its agency of record, we used databases like Effie to find any case studies of Grupo Cicopal's by a possible agency of record. This, too was a dead end. We also examined Grupo Cicopal's recent video ads. Sometimes, companies credit the marketing agencies they work with in these video ads. Again, none of these ads referenced an agency of record. 

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Competitors to Fivera Foods LLC (Ekoa Brands)

Tropical Foods, Mister Snacks, Element Bars, and Mount Franklin Foods are some true competitors to Fivera Foods.
Mister SnacksMister Snacks is a distributor of healthy snacks. It was established over three decades ago. The company now sells its snacks under Sunbird Snacks and Stone Mountain Snacks. It is headquartered in Amherst, New York.  
Mister Snacks supplies a wide range of snacks, including fruit snacks. This makes it a close competitor to Fivera Foods. 
Its website can be accessed here.  
Element BarsElement Bars manufactures food bars. It was founded in 2008 with the aim of offering custom bars to customers. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. 
It specializes in supplying snack bars, making it a strong competitor to Fivera Foods. 
Its website can be found here. 
Tropical Foods Founded in 1977, Tropical Foods is a family owned business that manufactures and distributes snacks. The company claims its ingredients are of the highest bold qualities. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. 
Tropical Foods has over 3,000 snacks in its product line, most of which are fruit snacks. This makes it a strong competitor to Fivera Foods. 
Its website has been linked here. 
Mount Franklin FoodsMount Franklin Foods is a manufacturer of snacks and candy. It does business as Sunrise Confections, Hospitality Mints, and Azar Nut Company. The company is headquartered in El Paso, Texas. 
Similar to Fivera Foods, it is a wholesaler of fruit snacks that are of premium quality. This makes it a close competitor. 
Its website can be found here. 
Research StrategySince Fivera Foods manufactures snacks - mainly fruit snack bars, manufacturers and distributors of fruit snacks in the US have been selected as close competitors to the company.

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Competitors to Fivera Foods LLC - The Findings

Mount Franklin Foods, Tropical Foods, Element Bars, and Mister Snacks are privately-held companies with estimated annual revenues of $1.5 million to over $400 million.  
Mount Franklin FoodsAlthough Mount Franklin Foods is a privately-held company, it has an estimated revenue of $475.3 million.  
The company manufactures snacks, toppings, snack mixes, candies, jellies, fruit snacks, gummies, bulk nuts, mints, organic chocolate, trail mixes, and mellow cremes, among others. 
Compared to other food snacks manufacturers, Mount Franklin Foods has a wide range of products, not just fruit snacks. It also has several brands, including Sunrise, Route 66, Softer Than Brittle, Sweet Valley Organics, Chef Xpress, and Brewhouse Legends. 
Mount Franklin's factories and plants are SQF Edition 8 certified, as well. This means they are considered safe and of high quality. 
Its target market is retailers; specifically hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, healthcare facilities, schools, and colleges in the US. 
Tropical FoodsTropical Foods is a private family-owned business with an estimated revenue of $45 million. 
Its products include more than 45 dried fruits; raw, roasted, no salt and roasted & salted nuts & seeds; pretzels; chips; and snack mixes. 
Tropical Foods considers itself a "one-stop snack solution," as it distributes a variety of fruits. The company is certified in the Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBENC) and the Women-Owned Small Business Program (WOSB). It works with a lot of local businesses that are owned by women. 
It has Kosher and organic production facilities in several parts of the US, as well. 
Tropical Foods has its corporate office and production facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, while its sales office and warehouse distribution centers are in Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis, Orlando, and Washington DC. Its Orlando office is also a production facility. 
It retails its snacks to several sectors including bars, country clubs, colleges & universities, healthcare, businesses, restaurants, travel-related companies, and supermarkets.  
Element BarsElement Bars is a privately-held company. As a result, it does not offer its financial data to the public. Its estimated revenue is $1.5 million. 
Element Bars allows retailers and users to design their own custom bars by choosing ingredients like chocolate, Omega-3 boost, and peanuts. Some of its popular bars include almond sunrise, autumn blueberry, chocolate cherry, cinnamon mornings, datey devine, nutty delight, simply cranberry, and oaty trails.
The company offers private labeling services. Compared to other snack retailers which only distribute to retailers in the US, Element Bars distributes to retailers in the US and abroad. 
Its bars supposedly address "some of the symptoms associated with cancer treatment" and can be used to fuel pre-workouts and rebuild post-workouts. 
Element Bars target retailers in all industries worldwide. 
Mister SnacksMister Snacks is a private company. Its estimated revenue is $5.7 million.  
The company's products include healthy snacks & nuts, dried fruit snacks, trail mixes, chocolates, yogurts, and candy, among others. Some of its dried fruit snacks flavors include Apple & Banana, Antioxidant Berry Mix, Apricots, and Blueberry. 
Its target audience includes gift shops, convenience stores, travel stops, retail stores, and independent route distributors.
Mister Snacks manufactures snacks for kids as well, not just for adults. It distributes unique and alternatives snacks, including nacho, wasabi, buffalo, and hit flavors. 