Blue Band

Pioneering excellence

Unilever was the first company to commercially produce margarine in Kenya in 1955, through its strategic partner East Africa Industries.

Over the last fifty years Blue Band has grown to be a household name and is currently used by over 2.3 million households in Kenya annually.

Blue band contributes to over 80% of the margarine market in East Africa. In 2009, Blue Band was named 2nd most popular brand in East and Central Africa, and has won several awards including the best re-innovation by an existing brand for Blue Band Spread for bread launch.

A familiar name in African households, Blue Band has been used since 1955 on breakfast tables. Indeed, for school children especially, Blue Band is a constant companion in their lockers to supplement the taste of food and spread on the innumerable loaves of bread that must be consumed the whole school term! Blue Band Spread for Bread was recently launched in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Variants

Blue bands two variants have diverse uses:

• You can use Blue Band original for:

Baking

Cooking

Spreading

• Blue Band Spread is specially formulated for spreading only thus more affordable but still offers the same nutrients as Blue Band original.Blue Ban

Blue Band Launches The National Growth Challenge

At Unilever, we work to create a better future every day. We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Hundreds of primary school children gathered at St. Teresa’s Girls primary school to mark the launch of the national Growth Challenge in Kenya. There was a lot of excitement as the children took to the stage on a dancing competition guided by the most hilarious comedian in town, Eric Omondi. The children creatively show cased various songs and poems on optimal nutrition and the benefits of Blue Band.

The campaign aims to grow consumption of Blue Band. This will be done by communicating to parents, teachers and children on the importance of a balanced diet as well as spreading Blue Band on every slice. The home and school environments play a major role in determining a child's attitude to and consumption of food. In this unique campaign Blue Band will go  to schools and identify 100,000 children who’s measurements will then  be taken over a six month period to monitor how they have grown and share this information with all Kenyans.

”We want 100,000 children to grow by 1,000m in 6 months through eating a balanced diet that includes fats and vitamins.” Said Margaret Mwaura, the Brand Building Director, ESA. Educational materials have been developed to engage the school children and their parents on issues around a balanced diet.

Nutritionists and child health experts from the Government have been engaged and will work with Blue Band throughout the campaign period to ensure that we meet our quest to improve children's health in Kenya. So far, 308 schools across Kenya have been activated and 77,000 children measured and an estimated 246,000 students have interacted with the brand

The response from teachers, as well as students is great and there is a lot of excitement on the message. The first round is almost over, and the second round of measurements will begin after 6 weeks. In this round we will have Nutritionists from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation who, in addition to educating the kids on the balanced diet, will use this campaign to gather some data for use in a baseline survey on the health status of Kids between the ages of 6-12. This will be the first time such information has been gathered.

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