The appointment of a new CEO at Carrefour caused a flurry of comment throughout the industry, with pundits outlining what the new chief’s priorities ought to be. Unilever and Kellogg were among manufacturers that announced annual results, while Hain Celestial, reporting its half-year numbers, said it saw a number of acquisition targets in the US. Elsewhere, suppliers expressed anger at a decision in Europe to block the use of new nutrition claims.
“To date, the Carrefour customer model has been ‘come to us’, it now needs to become ‘we come to you'” – Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders says Carrefour’s new CEO Georges Plassat, appointed at the weekend, needs to focus on developing the struggling retailer’s multi-channel presence.
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“It serves a bitter pill to food operators who have strived to voluntarily reformulate their products in line with consumer taste and public health expectations over the years” – Jesús Serafín Pérez, president of European trade association FoodDrinkEurope, hits out at the European Parliament’s rejection of new nutrition claims.
“Let’s not get carried away, over the last three years this business has grown 3.5%” – Unilever CEO Paul Polman insists the company’s food business, which saw volumes fall last year, has generated growth in recent years.
“In 2011 we started to build a foundation upon which we can grow. We will further improve our supply chain in 2012, but, as importantly, we will also focus our efforts on increasing investment in brand building and launching even stronger innovation” – Kellogg president and CEO John Bryant reflects on the cereal maker’s performance last year and looks ahead to the next 12 months.
“There are a lot of expansion opportunities for us, but most importantly is the US” – Hain Celestial president and CEO Irwin Simon says the US natural and organic foods group is eyeing “quite a few acquisitions” in its domestic market.
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By GlobalData“Bob will work for me on a number of initiatives which will leverage the skill and scale of Tesco and allow even greater investments to be made for customers” – Tesco CEO Philip Clarke outlines – albeit vaguely – what Bob Robbins, the former COO of the retailer’s UK operations who attracted headlines for selling shares in the company days before its profit warning last month, will do in a new role.
“People are still making choices about consumption around their health on a day to day basis and that provides a good opportunity for us” – Preet Grewal, co-founder of Eat Natural, tells just-food at the ISM confectionery expo in Cologne that the UK snack and cereals firm can continue to grow in Europe.
“It is our ongoing opinion that Ocado’s business model contains structural flaws that have not been ironed out after a decade of trading” – Shore Capital analyst Clive Black expresses concerns about the UK online retailer despite smaller annual losses.
“These figures are promising for potential buyers and show the importance of a good value-for-money message in today’s grocery market” – Kantar Worldpanel director Ed Garner reflects on UK frozen food retailer Iceland Foods, which is the subject of a takeover battle, reaching its highest market share for a decade.
“We anticipate that walnut and peanut market prices may continue to increase due to increased global demand and shortages, respectively, while market prices for cashews should begin to decline by the end of our third quarter” – Jeffrey Sanfilippo, chairman and CEO of US snacks maker John B. Sanfilippo, forecasts continued pressure on raw material costs.
