Financial results from the food manufacturers came thick and fast this week, with updates coming from Kellogg, Unilever and Hershey, among others. Here’s the best of what was said this week.
“We have got strong innovation and brand building but the first quarter is a tough cop for the UK and we expect better trends for the back part of the year. Europe is probably going to continue to be the most difficult operating environment for Kellogg this year” – Kellogg president and CEO John Bryant on the group’s outlook for 2011.
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“We are not going to price anything unless we can maintain our principle of building our volume share. The key variable that will influence will be what the competition does. We will not compromise on our core belief that we have to deliver competitive levels of price versus the right reference point for each brand in each market” – Unilever president of food, home and personal care operations, Michael Polk, on plans to raise prices due to higher input commodity costs.
We’ve certainly put our money where our mouth is with respect to organic growth in the last couple of years,” Hershey CEO Dave West on working to build its international footprint.
“The priority now is to develop in the Anglo countries – the UK, Canada and the US, which are big markets, either by per capita, or, in the US, because it is huge – where we want to get our fair share” – Ferrero UK managing director Christian Walter on the confectioner’s expansion plans.
“We have done all that we can to make sure we have come to a careful and well-informed decision” – New Sara Lee CEO Marcel Smits on the group’s decision to split the company up.
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By GlobalData“Our Egyptian employees are all on the ground and they’re protecting our facilities, our distribution centres and our offices. Our [local] head, Saad [Abdul-Latif] is constantly in touch with all of our executives and we are worried for them because we want to make sure that the country goes through whatever transition it is going through right now in a peaceful way” – PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi speaking about the situation in Egypt.
“We will become stronger in confectionery but especially we are happy about becoming stronger in the snack bars and breakfast category” – Raisio CEO Matti Rihko describes why the Finnish company has bought UK food maker Big Bear Group.
“We may in time be considered over-cautious and possibly ‘Neanderthal’ on Ocado. Whilst continuing to acknowledge its excellent customer service in the main, we remain to be convinced that there is a compelling business model that merits a materially premium stock rating to the market and the sector, the prime factor behind our cautious stance on the share” – Shore Capital analyst Clive Black on Ocado’s full-year financial results.
“If we want to protect the species and forests that are at the heart of WWF’s work, then we have to fundamentally change our food system” – WWF head of campaigns Colin Butfield on the Livewell Diet which combines sustainability with nutrition.
“Anecdotally on Twitter, we’ve heard stories of our customers doing their shopping while they’re waiting to pick up their kids from school, or in the queue at the bank, people are using that otherwise wasted time to do something constructive” – Ocado spokesperson Ben Lovett on how customers are using its mobile shopping apps.
