Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) is set to present today at the 2024 Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference. CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera and Global Chief Financial Officer Andre Maciel will articulate the Company’s strategy to achieve consistent top-tier returns for shareholders by spearheading innovation in the food industry.
The Company’s roadmap for sustainable growth revolves around its three key Growth Pillars: North America Retail, Global Away From Home, and Emerging Markets. It anticipates driving top-line expansion through strategic investments labeled as “Enablers of Growth.” These encompass enhanced marketing efforts, intensified research and development initiatives, technological advancements, increased innovation contributions, fortified customer collaboration via sales excellence, and the implementation of its Brand Growth System. This system, a novel addition to Kraft Heinz, aims to measure, monitor, and fortify the Company’s brand proposition on a global scale.
To finance these endeavors, Kraft Heinz plans to persist in fostering end-to-end efficiencies across its operations, focusing on streamlining supply chain processes, optimizing revenue management, managing working capital effectively, and broadening centralized services. Underpinning these efforts are the Company’s distinct competitive advantages: technologically-driven Agile@Scale methodologies, strategic alliances, and a culture centered around ownership.
Furthermore, Kraft Heinz has honed its strategy by adopting a longer-term perspective, analyzing consumer demand trends and associated opportunities over a decade. This has led to a restructuring of its portfolio around three primary platform roles – Accelerate, Protect, and Balance. The Accelerate platforms, including Taste Elevation, Easy Ready Meals, and Substantial Snacking, are poised to drive significant growth, thus attracting prioritized investments.
In addition to outlining its strategic evolution, the Company will detail its long-term growth algorithm, with targets remaining consistent, except for replacing the previous Adjusted EBITDA target with a target for Adjusted Operating Income. This shift reflects Kraft Heinz’s commitment to strengthening its ties to total shareholder return and fostering a heightened sense of ownership across the organization.
Looking ahead to the 2024 outlook, Kraft Heinz reiterates its projections for Organic Net Sales growth, Adjusted Operating Income growth, and Adjusted EPS growth. These projections are supported by expectations of positive contributions from pricing strategies and volume improvements in the latter half of the year.
End Notes: The financial measures mentioned, including Organic Net Sales, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Profit Margin, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EPS, Free Cash Flow, and Free Cash Flow Conversion, are non-GAAP financial metrics. Refer to the end of this article for a comprehensive discussion on non-GAAP financial measures and their reconciliations. Guidance for these metrics is provided on a non-GAAP basis due to the inherent challenges in predicting certain financial impacts, including currency fluctuations, acquisitions/divestitures, restructuring activities, and other significant factors. As such, the Company is unable to provide reconciliations without unreasonable effort.
