Joanes Cacao: Reinventing Brazilian cocoa with authenticity

A strategic partnership between CBA Latam and CBA London

With operations spanning more than 50 countries, the owner of more than 100 factories and a team of 20,000 employees, ofi is one of the leading food and beverage ingredients producers and suppliers in the world. Through their B2B cocoa’s operations, they professionalize the supply chain and advance the sustainable production of ingredients offering end-to-end solutions.

Joanes Cacao: A legacy in the heart of Bahia state

Joanes is one of ofi’s leading specialist cocoa ingredients brands focused in delivering the very best in South American cocoa experiences. With over 75 years of history, located on the Cocoa Coast in Ilhéus, Bahia, the company supplies high quality cocoa raw materials to the industry.

In a collaboration across our teams, CBA London and CBA Latam got together to bring the best of global ingredients strategy and local cultural knowledge and expertise, highlighting the brand’s Brazilian and Latin American origins, and ensuring alignment with the overall strategy of the ofi cocoa division.

The challenge was to evolve the brand from the ground up, considering the value of Joanes’ offer and communicating its unique personality and experience to customers and employees through a range of elevated communication tools.

Authentic South American cocoa

Based on the brand’s values, we revised Joanes’ positioning to reinforce the brand’s knowledge of and involvement with cocoa culture.

Its purpose is to be recognized not only as a supplier of ingredients, but as a specialist in authentic South American cocoa. A commitment that goes beyond offering high quality ingredients, embracing sustainable practices in cultivation through partnerships that reflect a positive and progressive vision of the market. An invitation to experience the genuine essence of the Brazilian fruit, valuing the positive impact of sustainable practices for the communities that grow it and the people who consume it.

Brazilian visual identity

The vision for Joanes Cacao was clear: to create a Latin American and Brazilian identity, evoking regionalism, and authenticity, without falling into clichés. For the typographic lines and expressions, our approach was about connecting people with the land, the past with the future, ingredients, and culture. This was complemented by a vibrant color palette, different types of fonts, illustrations, and pictograms.

For the illustrations, we invited Brazilian illustrator Julia Fontes to create a unique Latin American flair and authentic representation of our cocoa culture to express the brand’s specialism and passion for Brazilian cocoa.

Her expressive line, rich in detail, color and symbolism captures the brand’s passion for its products, culture, creativity, and positivity. The typography chosen communicates a unified, rustic, and contemporary personality for Joanes, while the organic and imperfect graphic lines symbolize the concept of “tracing the future with our hands”.

The photographic style adopted puts cocoa in the spotlight, with spontaneous images captured under natural light, highlighting the raw material, the harvesting process and the communities involved in the production chain.

Verbal identity with regional traits

Joanes’ verbal identity is built on a foundation of knowledge and pride, communicating in an intelligent and knowledgeable way, with a focus on heritage and progression. Its product portfolio has also been revised, and names that were previously expressed by codes have been recreated. The aim was to bring them into line with the brand’s positioning, leveraging the culture of Brazil and Latin America, valuing the natural environment and cocoa culture. A more proprietary and stronger product offering, going beyond the codes and taking advantage of the qualities, characteristics, and diversity of each product. The new names connect with the brand’s new positioning, being easy for global audiences to understand and at the same time containing a regional flavor, with words that are already known by locals with familiar nomenclatures that can be mixed, simplifying the portfolio.

Building the communication strategy

The communication strategy developed covers a wide range of stakeholders – from farmers and group employees to distributors and customers. The messages have been carefully calibrated to resonate with their specific audience, ensuring that the essence of Joanes is communicated effectively and authentically.

The transformation of Joanes by CBA Latam and CBA London is not just a change of identity; it is a revival of the brand’s essence, a commitment to sustainability and a celebration of the culture of Brazil and South America. A case that exemplifies how a strategic and collaborative approach can revitalize a brand, positioning it for success in a competitive global market.