Unilever, Danone and Heinz were among the food industry heavyweights to present at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of Europe investor conference in London this week – and just-food.com provided exclusive media coverage. Here is a selection of soundbites from the event.
“It is very clear that our total portfolio is working for us. If you look at the shareholder return over three years, it’s not so bad. I agree that some of our food business needs to perform better” – Unilever CEO Paul Polman defends the consumer goods giant’s position in food, which he told CAGE helped the company build its personal care arm in local markets. He acknowledged, however, that all parts of Unilever’s business needed to “justify itself”.
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“You will see more growth coming from Russia in 2012. Things are moving it in the right direction and are according to plan” – Danone co-COO Emmanuel Faber insisted the French company’s business in Russia was on track to grow further.
“We do expect raw material cost inflation to be in the low single digits in 2012 and therefore we will continue to have pricing discussions, pricing increases with our customers” – Dough Tough, CEO of ingredients supplier International Flavors and Fragrances, said the company would again look to pass on price increases this year.
“There is so much room with all these companies for further outsourcing. Yes, there will be companies who probably never or very long in the future outsource but let’s concentrate on the ones that are talking to us” – Barry Callebaut CFO Victor Balli insists consumer chocolate companies will continue to look to outsource their production.
“Where are the buyers going to come from for all these loose assets in Europe? Private equity, family companies, flotation or potentially a new international player for regional brands. A lot of roads do lead to private equity” – Tom Lindsay, co-founder of UK M&A advisory firm Spayne Lindsay, argues private equity will play a central role in a potential fresh wave of consolidation.
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By GlobalData“We have competence in global geographies: markets like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa. That local knowledge is hugely critical. Growth will come from larger multinationals when they get representation in those geographies” – Kerry Group CEO Stan McCarthy says the Irish company’s operations in emerging markets when its global customers enter the countries.
“We don’t go into a country and say one-size fits all. What we are looking to do is expand in our categories” – Heinz CFO Art Winkleblack says the US food giant has carefully tailored its offering in international markets to meet local consumer demand.
