Dive Brief:
- As ConAgra continues to implement several changes to its operations, analysts believe the company may begin shaking up brands next.
- "That push could mean selling some of the company’s sputtering brands, buying or developing new brands, dressing up other products to fit with a more contemporary marketplace and — possibly — selling part or all of the company," Omaha.com reported.
- ConAgra has nearly 50 retail brands, but most consumers are only familiar with a small percentage of those brands, and few of the brands are considered to be positioned for steady growth. "ConAgra has too many brands and not enough 'power brands,'" according to Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic.
Dive Insight:
ConAgra has 26 consumer brands that lead or are the second-highest brand in sales in their category, according to the company.
Selling off some of these brands could make ConAgra more nimble and able to respond to consumer trends that are impacting the entire industry. At the same time, ConAgra may consider beefing up its portfolio with healthier brands, as many other larger food companies are. ConAgra has so far been slow on the uptake, though it did acquire Blake’s All Natural Foods earlier this year.
These changes are in line with others that ConAgra has been making over the past few months. The company announced in October that it would move its headquarters from Omaha, NE, to Chicago and cut 1,500 jobs. Last week, memos went out to employees about layoffs, and before that, 40 IT jobs were cut.
ConAgra said it would be selling off its private-label brands business to TreeHouse Foods for $2.7 billion. The segment was performing poorly for ConAgra and dragging down profits.
"Doing nothing, [ConAgra CEO Sean] Connolly has said, and hoping that consumer preferences turn back toward traditional packaged foods, is not an option," Omaha.com reported.