Following approval from the US Bankruptcy Court of the appointment of Craig Jung as chief executive officer of Interstate Bakeries, the new CEO outlined his strategy to return the maker of Twinkies and Wonderbread to profitability.
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Commenting on the direction he intends to lead the struggling food group in, Jung said: “I subscribe to a proven strategic principle: don’t reinforce failure; press harder where there’s success. Going forward, we will focus on core markets that are profitable, have positive cash flow and earn their cost of capital.”
Jung said that his priorities as CEO will be to fix the cost structure and drive productivity to improve margins, accelerate innovation to drive revenue, and create a “performance culture”. Jung said that the number one challenge in the near-term for Interstate is its cost structure, followed by a lack of product innovation.
“Rationalising production and evolving our path to market are among the opportunities we have to consider in partnership with our customers, employees and unions,” Jung said. “Innovation is the lifeblood of profitable firms. We intend to accelerate relevant innovation, focusing on health and wellness and differentiating our brands from the competition.”
“We are gratified with the Court’s decisions today,” said Mike Anderson, chairman of IBC’s board of directors. “Craig has deep consumer goods and direct-store-delivery (DSD) experience and a proven track record leading difficult performance turnarounds. He is the right person to lead this company forward.”
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By GlobalDataThe Bankruptcy Court also approved an extension of the maturity date of Interstate’s DIP financing to 9 February 2008.
