Heinz driving ‘aggressive changes’ in Europe, says CFO
Heinz’s executive vice president and chief financial officer Art Winkleblack said that the company’s international sales now account for two-thirds of its business, with a quarter coming from emerging markets. Meanwhile, the company is investing heavily in European markets, which account for about a third of its turnover.
Winkleback said that the company announced in May an additional $120m investment to help drive overall growth. About $50m of that will be dedicated to new projects including those intended to streamline its operations, such as the global Project Keystone initiative.
“We are driving very aggressive changes in Europe,” he said. “This includes the acceleration of Project Keystone in the region, the completion of Project Score, which is our pan-European supply chain hub there, and the start-up of a new European innovation centre.
“All of these initiatives are aimed at addressing the difficult economic environment in Europe, allowing us to innovate more effectively in addressing consumer needs, and reduce costs in order to become even more competitive.”
Part of the Heinz marketing strategy for 2013 is enable fast collaboration across the globe, and to transfer market successes to other regions wherever possible, he said.
The company is currently constructing an innovation centre in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which is due to open in early 2013, as its biggest innovation centre outside of the US. The centre will initially employ about 100 staff, who are already employed by the company in the Netherlands.
The current Heinz research department in Nijmegen works on Heinz products as well as well-established Dutch brands such as Honig, Venz, Roosvicee, Royal de Ruijter and Brinta. It is due to be integrated with the new innovation centre.
