Culture Advisory

Results

+45%

Increase in international sales

driven by a renewed commitment to marketing and sales.

A clearly articulated set of values and behaviours,

implemented across all levels of the business.

Successful divestment of a non-core business unit

leading to growth through more focused execution.

THE BUSINESS

With a heritage dating back hundreds of years, Tangerine Confectionery is the business behind many of our favourite sweets, with Sherbet Fountain, Dib Dab, Black Jack, Fruit Salad, Refreshers and Butterkist Popcorn amongst its most famous brands.
They are an employer to over 1,000 people and operate across five busy sites, combining traditional manufacturing methods with state of the art operations.

As well as working with some of the UK’s largest retailers across multiple channels, providing both branded and own label products, Tangerine has a growing presence internationally, trading in Australia, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

THE CHALLENGE

The newly appointed CEO faced a number of challenges as he took over at Tangerine. At an organisational level, despite owning well-respected brands, the company was losing market share and had declining margins. In the popcorn sector in particular, market-leading Butterkist was fighting to maintain its position.

To change the situation, the CEO realised he needed to align and focus the business on a growth strategy while injecting energy and agility. He felt a revitalised leadership was needed to support him and navigate change, especially as the role of CEO had been filled by an interim for the last 12 months, and he wanted to mix the previous team with new members promoted from within or hired externally.

“This is the most aligned and collaborative exec team during my time within the business.”

Tangerine Confectionery

CEO

THE APPROACH

Coode were assisted in the implementation of an organisation-wide culture change programme by:

Providing advice to the CEO as he made his assessment of the company and team. This was immediately followed by engagement with the senior leadership team to help them build and align on the strategy to grow the company’s profitability. Work included clearly defining strategic priorities, as well as ways of working and behaviours (the culture) that would help execute the strategy.
Development of the team and its individual members which continued over twelve months. This was in parallel with support to the wider change agenda, in particular the engagement of the broader leadership community, and included helping to manage the impact of the sale of the Butterkist business to keep the remaining core business focused on growth.

More case studies

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Since 2019, Coode has partnered with Solina to support its transformation into a globally aligned organisation. As the company achieved fivefold revenue growth and expanded across Europe, the Americas and Asia, integrating 18 acquisitions, Coode helped define a unifying strategic narrative and operating model that balanced local agility with global scale. By aligning leadership and embedding shared cultural principles, Solina built one cohesive story that continues to drive its international success.

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