Darbo lives brand continuity

 

Just a few weeks after handing over the management of Adolf Darbo AG to his son Martin, Klaus Darbo (64) is delighted with this public acknowledgement of his life's work: a top-class jury of experts fetched him up on stage as winner of the Brand Life Award 2009. "A late birthday present," the Tyrolean businessman commented: the Darbo brand All Natural celebrated its 30^th anniversary in the spring of this year.

 

This was the first time that local personalities had received awards from the European Brand Institute for the development of brands of lasting value. Austria's biggest supplier of jams and honeys met all of the 11-strong jury's evaluation criteria, including personal involvement in the brand (brand leadership), continuity and sustainability of the brand construction; years of existence, the economic meaning of the established brand, and brand power.

 

Klaus Darbo chuckles as he recalls the 60s and how, as a student at the College of World Trade in Vienna, he sold the portion pots from his father's company in Stans: "There were many grateful purchasers in the catering industry," he says, "but when it came to the retailers, I felt as if I was begging for favours. At the time, I really wished I was representing a highly regarded brand. However, that had to be created first."

 

Klaus Darbo's "aha" moment came when he started studying the Austrian Food Code. "I found out that it was permitted to use the term 'All Natural'. And so I decided to launch 'All Natural' products that were made exclusively of fruit, gelling sugar and natural lemon juice." Of course, the successful brand consists of more than the right product. The successful slogan ("There's All Natural in Darbo All Natural") was created in 1979 to communicate the message with perfect clarity. Klaus Darbo: "This is a path we've been following for more than thirty years; after all, brands need plausibility and clarity more than anything else. And people who make sure that the brand keeps what it promises."

 

The Tyrolean company can be proud of the bottom line, too: A. Darbo AG is expected to break the "sales sound barrier" of Euro 100 million this year; the company's market share on the domestic market is 60 percent, and the sweet premium products from Austria are appreciated and enjoyed in 62 countries all over the world. Klaus Darbo described the ruling by the EU court, declaring the term "Darbo All Natural" as permitted and thus putting an end to disruptive actions by foreign competitors, as a particularly pleasing success. "Now I want my four sons to continue with the development of the brand that has been so successful in Austria on an international level," is the award-winning brand pioneer's dearest wish.