Letona enters the competitive UHT milk market, the most basic and consumed, usually packaged in tetra brik. This is a segment dominated by private labels of supermarket chains and by large companies such as Calidad Pascual, Puleva or Central Lechera Asturiana. In Catalonia, this business is even more dynamic, as two local brands with a lot of weight also come into play: Llet Nostra ---which is the leading brand--- and ATO. From now on, consumers will have one more Catalan brand to choose from, Letona, which is the only milk packaged in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, in a plant located in Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
Letona could already be bought in supermarkets, but its bottles had to be looked for in the refrigerated section, since until now the brand only produced fresh pasteurized milk, a much smaller market segment, but of which it is the absolute leader in Catalonia, with a 40% share. Now it will also start selling UHT milk bottles, which do not need refrigeration and can be stored at room temperature. Unlike fresh milk, which has a very short shelf life, only a few days, the expiration date of UHT milk is very long, several months.
To get an idea of the great difference in volume that exists between the two thermal treatment and preservation technologies, one fact is enough: 96% of the milk consumed in Spanish homes is UHT.
Letona is one of the most emblematic milk brands in Barcelona, as it will soon be a century since it was marketed. The company was founded in 1925 by the Viader family who, a few years later, in 1933, created the product that would end up becoming the company's star: the Cacaolat chocolate milkshake.
Today, Letona and its characteristic returnable glass bottle is a classic in bars and cafeterias, as it has a special creaminess that provides good foam for making lattes. According to the company, the brand "is the reference milk in the Horeca channel in Catalonia" and now wants to transfer this positioning to the food channel, that is, to supermarkets. "The brand has decided to take a leap and go further, betting on UHT milk. Letona aims to bring the authentic taste of professional bar milk home," explains Grupo Cacaolat.
According to the company, this step has been decided as a consequence of the covid-19 crisis and the strong restrictions suffered by bars, restaurants and cafeterias, a fact that has significantly reduced Letona's sales, which are very focused on this type of establishment.
Unlike its major competitors, the new Letona UHT milk is not packaged in tetra brik, but in PET plastic bottles. It has arrived on the market with only two varieties: whole milk and semi-skimmed milk. The brand can now be purchased in chains such as Caprabo, Consum, Alcampo, Sorli and in Carrefour hypermarkets. The goal is to also enter the rest of the distribution groups, where Letona is already present with its fresh milk.
New image, same motto
To accompany this launch, Cacaolat has decided to renew Letona's brand image and recover and strengthen its historical motto, Letona, llet de la bona (Letona, good milk), an expression that became popular in the 80s and that many citizens still remember. "The brand is committed to authenticity because, although we live in a world of constant changes where technology and digitalization are gaining more prominence than ever, consumers increasingly value natural products, whose origin they know," explains Cacaolat.
Letona is made with milk from farms located in the regions of Osona, Gironès, Alt and Baix Empordà, Pla de l'Estany, Noguera and also Aragon. The brand, historically, was packaged in a factory located in Poblenou, but in 2013 the production of Letona and Cacaolat was moved to Santa Coloma after 45 million euros were invested in the remodeling of an old Damm factory. The brewing group owns 50% of the company and the other half belongs to Cobega, a family group chaired by Sol Daurella and a reference shareholder of Coca-Cola European Partners, the main Coca-Cola bottling company. Damm and Cobega rescued the Letona and Cacaolat brands from bankruptcy in 2012 and prevented them from disappearing from the market after the disastrous management carried out by the defunct Nueva Rumasa group.
The year prior to the pandemic, Cacaolat invoiced around 60 million euros. The company has on the table an important growth plan designed by its new general director, Josep Barbena, an executive who took over the group at the end of 2019, coming from GBfoods (Gallina Blanca).