Tate & LyleCopied

Tate & Lyle built its name on sugar. By 2023 the listed company had moved on. Confectionery Production noted that the 160 year old business had parted ways with its founding sugar interests to focus on ingredients for healthier snacks, confectionery and other foods, and on 31 January 2023 it launched a new brand to match, describing it as another milestone in becoming a purpose led, growth focused speciality food and beverage solutions business.

At the centre is a new narrative, Science, Solutions, Society, which the company calls its promise to customers and the way it delivers its purpose, Transforming Lives through the Science of Food. Chief executive Nick Hampton said everything Tate & Lyle does is rooted in science, through research and innovation in the science of food, and that the new brand truly reflected who the company now is and its ambitions, building on more than 160 years of innovation. The rebrand covers a new logo, typography, imagery, narrative and tone of voice.

The visual idea came from the name itself. Helen Bass, global head of marketing and insights, said that early in the design work the team discovered the power of having an and in the name. The ampersand, she argued, is distinctive and also communicates that Tate & Lyle brings more: curiosity, restlessness in solving challenges, going the extra mile. The power of and became a key part of the design. She called the rebrand not just a new logo or colours but a beacon of change for the organisation.

The company worked with the agency Bulletproof, which Confectionery Production reported developed the strategy and identity and then tested the new look with colleagues across the business. Executive creative director David Beare said the team studied the company's history, future, competitors and brand world, but that talking to Tate & Lyle's own people mattered most, to find what was true, credible and motivating about working there.

Making a hero of the ampersand is an elegant move. It is the one character every reader already associates with the name, it carries a ready made story about combining things, and it gives a business to business company a symbol without inventing one. The risk is subtle: the brand still trades on a name famous for sugar while selling sugar reduction. Leaning into the and rather than the heritage is the right way around that tension.