Project details
Ismail Industry Limited
Introduction
Ismail Industry Limited, a Pakistani listed company and the country's largest confectionery producer, home to brands including Cocomo, Sonnet, Paradise, Bisca, Now Gold, Cloud9, Big Bunny, Funny Bunny, Bubble Pop, and Super Tattoos
Service
ASEAN Retail Distribution (Go-to-Market Consultancy)
Location
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam
Overview
Ismail Industry Limited is a Pakistani-listed confectionery giant with an established presence in 30+ markets worldwide — yet with no footprint in ASEAN. In 2022, the company's CEO appointed Aello to lead a full-scaled market-entry process to close that gap, opening up one of the world's largest and most dynamic confectionery regions.
This was one of Aello's most comprehensive engagements to date: a full-blown GTM consultancy project spanning five markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam — across both General Trade and Modern Trade channels.
Approach
The engagement covered the full market-entry journey, including:
On-the-ground market visits — assessing retail environments, from modern trade shelves to general trade warehouses and wholesalers across the five target markets
Distributor search and evaluation — identifying, meeting, and negotiating with potential distribution partners capable of taking Ismail's confectionery portfolio to market
Channel strategy — building a go-to-market approach tailored to both General Trade (GT) and Modern Trade (MT) channels, reflecting how differently confectionery moves through each in Southeast Asia
Results
The market-entry process is estimated to generate USD 10M+ in revenue for the client in the first year alone — a strong validation of ASEAN's opportunity for a confectionery brand with no prior regional presence, and of a distribution strategy built market-by-market rather than as a single regional rollout.
