Dive Brief:
- Mondelez International said it sees new channels like e-commerce and its “power brands" as opportunities for growth in the years ahead, according to Food Business News. Power brands include Oreo, Milka and belVita.
- Mondelez chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld said that the company is looking to improve its presence in e-commerce, discounters, convenience stores and traditional trade. The company is also building an e-commerce snacks business after seeing net revenues increase more than 35% last year.
- "Our strategy to distort investment behind our power brands, which represent nearly 70% of our global revenues, is paying off,” Tim Cofer, chief growth officer at Mondelez, said. "In 2016, these brands grew organic net revenue at twice the rate of the company overall and continue to outpace category growth.”
Dive Insight:
In 2015, Mondelez announced a growth plan that set an aggressive e-commerce goal: $1 billion in revenues by 2020. The international manufacturing giant is well on its way, and its timing couldn’t be better. Many analysts predict 2017 will be a year of significant growth in the e-commerce space for food and beverage companies.
The 2017 Grocery eCommerce Forecast, a joint report by Unata and Brick Meets Click, showed that more consumers are expected to buy groceries online in the year ahead than at any other time, and many of these consumers are finding their way to food companies like Mondelez.
Additionally, eMarketer.com reported that food and beverages are expected to be the ninth highest category in e-commerce sales between 2012 to 2018, valued at close to $10.9 billion. A study from The NPD Group found that e-commerce is the fastest-growing way RTE snacks are purchased.
Of course, Mondelez is doing a lot on its end to attract and retain e-commerce. In 2015, it added "buy now" buttons to shoppable online ads, making it easier for consumers to feed their craving while browsing online. Last April, Mondelez partnered with Alibaba group, which hosts an online store for the manufacturer's products. And for the last two years, it's hosted a consumer-facing December gifting site that allows special products and personalization.
Last year, Mondelez hired Jeff Jarrett as VP-global head of ecommerce, removing the segment from the marketing department and creating its own division, proving the company’s attempt at better integrating e-commerce into its broader corporate strategy and growth objectives.
The company has also spent the past two years beefing up its ecommerce team, hiring numerous industry experts with strong digital skills and experience in online and offline retail.