Hammer supports AAK during strategy development process

In support of its strategy development process, AAK, a global market leader in the oils and fats business, turned to boutique consultancy Hammer for market sizing expertise.

AAK has an extensive solutions portfolio used in a wide array of (food) products. Headquartered in Sweden, the company partners with producers to supply them with tailored and refined oil and fat solutions.

Stemming from a desire to consolidate and strengthen its market position, the company decided to develop a new European growth strategy. Out of that came the ambition to expand though the development of new initiatives – with the allocation of investments and resources to be based on fact-based planning.

“We wanted to verify and improve our understanding of European vegetable oils and fats market within identified food industries in Europe,” recalled ‍Rasa Moorthamer, AKK’s product management director for Europe.

Using this understanding, AAK could then underpin its strategic decision-making process. Hammer, a Netherlands-based consulting firm, was called in for counsel.

Moorthamer: “The market sizing and forecasting performed by Hammer was very useful in our strategy work to define the growth ambition and focus areas for the coming years.”

Hammer worked to gather specific market intelligence that enabled better understanding of the market, its dynamics, and the potential for growth. 

Through this partnership, AAK was able to obtain production information within its scope market, which is notoriously hard to access. After analyzing consumer plus trade data and conducting expert interviews, Hammer was able to design a detailed approach for market share analysis and business modelling. The extensive analysis incorporated around 20,000 data points and touched on over 3,000 producers across Europe.

With this invaluable data and insight, Moorthamer said AAK is able to better monitor European markets and can make more informed decisions when it comes to growth and innovation. “I truly enjoyed professional and thorough work from the entire Hammer team side, as well as pleasant and on time communication,” said Moorthamer.

Last year, Hammer flexed its market intelligence capabilities in a partnership with VolkerWessels Telecom.