Dive Brief:
- Campbell CEO Denise Morrison and Stonyfield Farm founder and activist Gary Hirshberg were among the five executives named to Food Processing's list of five rebel food industry leaders. Morrison and Hirshberg were included for their work on meeting consumer demands for GMO labeling, organic products, and other health-related initiatives.
- Chairman and CEO of TreeHouse Foods Sam Reed made the list for his efforts to grow it into the largest private-label manufacturer in North America. His goal has been to make private-label brands leaders for industry change rather than followers.
- Enjoy Life Foods founder Scott Mandell was credited with pioneering the free-from foods movement, while Sam Adams founder and Boston Beer Co. chairman Jim Koch was named "father of the craft beer movement."
Dive Insight:
Reed's influence has capitalized on one of the key differences between private label and brand label products. Brand adherence can impede flexibility versus private labels' ability to adapt and customize to suit what each retailer needs in the moment, based on what consumers are purchasing more of at that time. This has made private label products a larger threat to manufacturers, especially as retailers launch natural and organic brands at competitive prices.
"Rebel" movements like free-from foods and craft beer have delivered consumers niche products but have become more mainstream over time. Now they've caught the interest of major players, with Enjoy Life acquired by Mondelez last year and fast-growing craft brewers snapped up by major beer companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev and Constellation Brands.
Larger companies aim to absorb this rebellious nature, but they tend to do so through acquisitions rather than pivoting legacy brands on their own. Once the startup is under their wing, these companies often take lessons in agility and innovation from the smaller company that they can apply to their own brands.
Campbell, however, breaks that trend by being a leader in efforts like GMO labeling and BPA alternatives. The company uses its size to its advantage to spur industrywide change. However, these efforts are as much out of need as they are to inspire change, as health-conscious consumers continue to move away from processed foods, the primary focus of its portfolio.
Other leaders that embody these rebellious characteristics include PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, who has kept innovation at the forefront of beverages and snacks efforts. That has included taking risks like reformulating Diet Pepsi without aspartame, though the future of that reformulation is currently unclear. Nooyi, among the few female chief executives in food and beverage, has also been an activist for gender equality and parity in the industry.