Delice de France

Rediscovering passion

Delice de France is a major UK food service business supplying frozen
breads, pastries, deserts and speciality foods to restaurants, cafes, hotels and other catering establishments.

Originally founded by a Frenchman from a small café in west London, Delice de France had been acquired by a large Dublin based corporation IAWS, who had also acquired its major competitor, Cuisine de France. In a highly competitive market, there was a need to reinvigorate the Delice brand, re-energise the business and develop a cohesive, motivated and informed culture within the overall UK Group.

Our role was wide ranging, working with senior management to develop a clearly
differentiated profile, proposition, vision and values for all internal and external audiences,
users and stakeholders.

Our work encompassed both strategic and design consultancy. We undertook a nationwide programme of consultative interviews across the business to gain feedback from staff at all levels on their perceptions and views of key challenges and opportunities.

We distilled the research findings into a forward facing strategy and mission statement for Delice de France and the parent UK Group. This strategy defined a clear brand culture, based on feedback, combining ideas of passion and professionalism, with a focus not just on pure sales, but also on service. This was cascaded back through the company via a series of internal channels including briefing documents, emails, presentations and a company-wide newsletter.

Communication of the Group brand culture was enhanced by a revitalised design approach, expressed through a variety of internal communication materials, including a staff handbook and induction pack, together with ‘Lifestyle, a staff incentive scheme.

The Delice de France internal review led to a rediscovery of the essence of the brand values.
We set out a strategy for the brand that was all about putting the passion for quality food back at the heart of the business. This strategy was then expressed through major external channels of communication including a redesigned product catalogue and a radically new approach to recruitment advertising.

Now part of a Swiss based group, Delice de France continues to pursue a “passion for
great food’ strategy.

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