Dive Brief:
- B&G Foods is working to strengthen its reputation for turning around underperforming brands with the Green Giant vegetable business B&G acquired for $765 million from General Mills last year.
- At $32 million, B&G is doubling the marketing investment General Mills made of around $15 to $16 million.
- B&G president and CEO Robert Cantwell said on an earnings calls that the company will spend this year employing a three-pronged approach: "fixing Green Giant's foundation, initiating the innovation pipeline and developing a world-class summer marketing campaign."
Dive Insight:
When B&G acquired Green Giant, Cantwell said the brand had no innovation in the pipeline and that General Mills did not include Green Giant in its long-term strategy.
General Mills has focused its investments on ventures like removing artificial colors and flavors from its cereals and fruit snacks, building up the Annie's natural and organic foods brand, and launching the venture capital firm 301 Inc. to invest in promising startups.
B&G says its strategy for Green Giant will be more of an investment in innovation. The losses in frozen are a high priority because shelf-stable has not been as big of a loss.
By prioritizing Green Giant, which B&G describes as an "iconic," brand, B&G could be putting in place the strategy for a higher level of innovation and promotion that the brand needs.