For the first time since Globes presented its annual brand rankings in 2003, an Israeli brand — Bamba — has managed to overtake the likes of Coca Cola, Netflix and Google, which have dominated the rankings, and climb to number one. The Israeli peanut butter-flavored snack belongs to the food manufacturer Osem-Nestle, which itself ranks 42nd in Israel. It is a strange situation when a snack has a higher commercial value than its manufacturer.
This was the year when a wave of price increases swept the country and much was written about declining consumer loyalty. According to Storenext data, in 2022 the share of the ten largest suppliers decreased significantly – by 1.8 points in the market compared to 2021. However, unlike many brands, Osem-Nestle chose not to raise the price of the popular peanut snack. This fact may also have helped Bamba to beat the leading global brands.
20 million bags, 31 types in 18 countries
In 2019, when Bamba accounted for about 25% of the total sales of all snacks in Israel, which exceeded 1 billion shekels, Osem-Nestle opened the new Bamba factory in Kiryat Gat with an investment of about 250 million shekels. Since then, pampas production has increased by about 30%, and 1 million bags are produced every day and sent to 18 different countries. In 2022, sales of Bamba are estimated at 351 million shekels, according to Storenext data.
In all, Bamba markets about 20 million bags per month of different versions that have been developed over the years. Osem-Nestlé apparently didn’t hear the same: “If something works, it’s best not to touch it.” Today, no less than seven different versions of the product are produced, which are sold in 31 packages of different sizes, including the classic Bamba, bear-shaped Bamba, airy Bamba, halva-filled Bamba and even Bamba filled with Bamba sweet cream, as well as a range of special versions. The brand never stops renewing itself.
Despite the lack of any special investment in recent years in advertising the brand on television, Bamba is still known in every Israeli home and is the star of every birthday party in kindergarten and school. Perhaps social networks play a bigger role – on Tiktok, the hashtag #Bamba alone has nearly 40 million views. The hashtag #Oosem has garnered 24 million views. Bamba’s official Facebook page has around 5,000 followers.
Perhaps nostalgia is driving us through a year of higher prices more than experts think. Products from childhood evoke in most of us a memory of innocence, comfort and a good feeling that is not related to the taste of the product, but to the whole experience that pervades our being. What does this mean for future consumer trends? This should be checked later. Perhaps the fact that Osem excluded Bamba from price hikes and chose to keep it at the old price simply seduced consumers.
Traffic navigation application Waze ranked second in the “Globes” Brands Index, followed by Google in third place, WhatsApp in fourth place, and then Samsung in fifth place. The top 10 is rounded out by Microsoft, Super Pharm, YouTube, Nike, and Mei Eden.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on Jul 20, 2023.
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