GROWING OUR CORE PORTFOLIO
To drive growth in our core categories of Ketchup and Sauces; Meals and Snacks; and Infant/Nutrition, we supported our brands with creative broadcast, print and Internet campaigns and a greater focus on in-store, point-of-purchase marketing.
Heinz’s greatest marketing success during the year was the “Grown Not Made” campaign, which helped ketchup achieve organic sales growth of more than 9% globally and reported sales growth of 3.2% in Fiscal 2009(1). This innovative campaign conveys the quality of Heinz Ketchup and the unique relationship between the seeds we provide and the wholesome tomatoes that make it the World’s Favorite Ketchup™. We launched the campaign in Europe first and have since introduced it to the U.S. We plan to support it with the most aggressive media spend since the memorable “Anticipation” campaign more than 30 years ago.
We also completed several small acquisitions to enhance the growth of our core portfolio. We added Bénédicta, a French maker of sauces, mayonnaise and salad dressings; La Bonne Cuisine in New Zealand, whose products include chilled dips and hummus; and Golden Circle, an Australian manufacturer of fruit-based beverages and products. Golden Circle is an icon in Australia, with excellent brands that are a great fit with our focus on Health & Wellness. With Golden Circle, the combined annual sales of our Australian and New Zealand business units are approaching $1 billion (U.S.), making Heinz one of the largest and best-positioned companies in the region. We see an opportunity to expand the reach of Golden Circle products across Asia/ Pacific, leveraging our global scale and infrastructure.
