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Campbell's focuses on real food strategy

To drive performance, CEO says the company is looking beyond typical five-year planning horizons and honing in on the intersection of real food, health and well-being and technology.

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Campbell Soup Company President and Chief Executive Officer Denise Morrison provided an overview of the company's strategic direction during the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference in Boca Raton, Fla. Morrison shared her perspective on the state of the food industry and the consumer environment, and highlighted the steps Campbell is taking to define the future of real food through strategic foresight.

"Across every industry and in every organization, the pace of change is unpredictable, unrelenting and unforgiving. The future food world will be more complex and more challenging. To fully unlock Campbell's performance, we're looking beyond typical five-year planning horizons and establishing well-informed perspectives on opportunities and disruptions driven by the intersection of real food, health and well-being and technology," said Morrison.

Morrison focused on four emerging growth platforms, including: 

  1. E-commerce is transforming the food industry. Between 2016 and 2021, e-commerce sales of food and beverages are projected to reach $66 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent.1 Morrison painted a picture of frictionless future commerce where consumers' food needs will be met anywhere, anytime through connected kitchens and an always-on shopping environment. Morrison outlined Campbell's current programs and plans such as meal kits, buy-now capabilities, recipe integration with leading recipe sites, and dash buttons, as well as the company's focus on increasing its e-commerce capabilities as consumer expectations shift from centralized locations and platforms to diverse omni-channel experiences.
  2. Campbell recognizes a growth opportunity to expand its business in snacking across many of its categories. Snacking is an $89 billion market in the U.S. with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 3 percent.2 While more than two-thirds of snacks are of the "mindless munching" variety, the snacks of tomorrow will be more deliberate with a specific purpose; they will be more accessible, affordable and high-quality; and they will be both customizable and offer functional benefits. Campbell's longer-term plans include adding functional benefits to its existing snacks, while also selecting real food ingredients that can address specific needs, such as endurance, mood and energy management, with a goal of ultimately creating new snacking platforms that are true to the company's Purpose, Real food that matters for life's moments
  3. The next frontier in nutrition will be about reconfiguring diets according to an individual's specific physiology, lifestyle and health goals. The Better.Me growth platform leverages biometric data to provide personalized food options. To meet this emerging need, Campbell funded Habit, a new startup company positioned at the intersection of health, technology and food, poised to lead the personalized nutrition revolution. Habit is currently being tested in the Greater San Francisco area. For more information, visit www.habit.com
  4. Limitless Local is a movement that embraces smaller, more regional farming and food production models that foster new narratives around quality, community and place. It fosters a more intimate relationship to food, where it comes from, how it's made and who the people are behind it. Campbell is incorporating Limitless Local in its product development, with brands such as 1915 by Bolthouse Farms, Well Yes! soup, and Prego Farmers' Market, as well as a small-batch production of one of the company's original tomato soup recipes using local New Jersey beefsteak tomatoes. 

1 Source: Proprietary Campbell Estimate 

2 Source: Nielsen Scantrack Data 2015

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