(All views are mine alone and do not represent views of my employer or any organization I’m affiliated with. This is for informational purposes only and is not a research report nor an advice to buy or sell any security.)
Frozen food
The frozen food aisle is being revitalized by freshly-prepared meals, like Frozen Foodies’ cryogenically frozen meals prepared by professional chefs and Buttermilk’s reheatable pre-made Indian meals. As gourmet frozen foods offer healthier options and better quality than frozen foods once did, they are attracting younger consumers.“In 2018, the total volume of frozen foods sold in the U.S. increased for the first time in five years, driven largely by millennials and consumers with children,” reports CB Insights.
Frozen plant-based brands like Gardein and Daiya are helping to feed the 52% of millennials who prefer organic food and the 40% on a plant-based diet.
ABOUT OUR STOCK (NYSE: K)
At Kellogg Company (NYSE: K), we strive to enrich and delight the world through foods and brands that matter. Our beloved brands include Pringles®, Cheez-It®, Special K®, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®, Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®, Rice Krispies®, Eggo®, Mini-Wheats®, Kashi®, RXBAR®, MorningStar Farms® and more. Net sales in 2018 were approximately $13.5 billion, comprised principally of snacks and convenience foods like cereal and frozen foods. Kellogg brands are beloved in markets around the world. We are also a company with Heart & Soul, committed to creating Better Days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030 through our Kellogg’s® Better Days global purpose platform. Visit www.KelloggCompany.com or www.OpenforBreakfast.com.
Dividends
Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) today announced that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.57 per share on the common stock of the Company, payable on December 16, 2019, to shareowners of record at the close of business on December 2, 2019. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2019. This is the 380th dividend that Kellogg Company has paid to owners of common stock since 1925.
Q219 Slides
We continue to do exactly what we’ve said we do. In other words, we remained on strategy, and it’s another quarter in which we delivered the results we said we would. In short, we remained on plan.
Let’s start with strategy in Slide #5. Our reshaped portfolio is doing what it’s intended to do. We once again delivered good growth in emerging markets where we’ve built up scale and diversified our offerings. We once again grew in Developed Markets Snacks, thanks to revitalized brands, effective innovation and On the Go pack formats. And we delivered growth in Developed Markets Frozen foods led by innovation and marketing that has driven a particularly exciting acceleration for Morningstar Farms veggie foods. This portfolio should give you confidence in our ability to sustain steady top line growth even as we work to stabilize Developed Markets Cereal, particularly in the United States.
As a reminder, our divestiture closed during the quarter. We are addressing stranded costs, and the transition services are underway and being well executed. We used the proceeds to reduce debt and enhance financial flexibility, and we’re already feeling the benefit of increased focus behind the rest of our U.S. categories. And from a portfolio standpoint, we are starting to see the divestiture’s favorable benefit of improved growth profile and better margins over time.
Beyond our portfolio reshaping, Deploy for Growth also continues to help us improve our competitiveness. Our focus on winning occasions is reflected in the strong performance of this year’s innovations and sustained growth in On the Go offerings. Our focus on building world-class brand is evident everywhere from Pringles’ global momentum to the share gains of our revitalized U.S. Snack brands to Morningstar Farms growth reacceleration. We have also made progress on improving service and in-store execution, aided not only by investment in capabilities but also by the improved visibility and holistic resource management that comes from our efforts earlier this year to flatten our organizational structure. And our heart and soul boosters are also generating results as evidenced by our recent rise in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index ranking released during this quarter. And the best proof that our strategy is working is in our results. In Q3, we again remained solidly on plan for the year. We said we would return to top line growth this year, and we’re delivering it.
Slide #6 shows that we sustained our acceleration in organic net sales growth. We again posted organic growth in all 4 regions, and we again recorded positive price realization amidst higher cost inflation. Globally, we grew organic net sales in snacks, frozen and noodles, and we grew cereal outside of North America led by emerging markets. Importantly, we again showed growth in consumption and share in key categories and brands around the world. As a result, we are confident in our ability to deliver on our full year guidance.
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A positive takeaway from the third-quarter results was that organic sales, which strip out the impact of currency translation, divestitures and acquisitions, grew 2.4% overall, helped by increases in all four geographic regions in which Kellogg operates. Strong results in snacks and frozen foods were big contributors.
North America saw the smallest increase at 0.2%, owing to a decline in cereal sales. Organic sales grew by 4.2% in Europe, 5.9% in Latin America, and 7.6% in Africa, Middle East and Asia.
Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, Mich., has evolved into more of a snacks company than one focused on cereal.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited-transcript-k-earnings-conference-010508584.html
All Leaf
N0 Beef
WE SET OUT TO CREATE A SNAPPY, SAVORY, PLANT-BASED JERKY WITH GOOD FOR YOU INGREDIENTS DELIVERING GOOD FOR YOU BENEFITS.
The product was created by Amy Shouldice who pitched the idea to Kellogg’s, according to the brand’s site. The idea of a vegan jerky may be off-putting to some (jerky is, like, *the* meat-lovers snack!), but Amy said she wanted to create a portable, vegan snack that even her husband who loves meat would enjoy. The brand’s site currently advertises just one flavor, Cracked Pepper And Herb, but its social media accounts also show a Korean BBQ flavor as well.
If you’re health and/or environmentally conscious, you’ll probably love this product. It’s plant-based, vegan, and sustainably farmed with 11 grams of protein with only 80 calories. It’s also made of recyclable packaging. My biggest concern was also addressed because despite its name, the stuff is not actually made of leaves (phew!); it’s mostly made up of soy, according to its ingredients list.
So far, it doesn’t appear that too many people have been able to try it but the hype online has been real. And at least one person has pointed out with the launch of Incogmeato, Kelloggs’ plant-based burger, whoever is doing the naming over at Kellogg’s is a true pun-master.
https://www.newsweek.com/pizza-hut-incogmeato-plant-based-topping-1467077
- Exact Answer from 3Q19 Q&a:
- In terms of the frozen business, and in particular, our Morningstar Farms business, we believe we have a competitive advantage for several reasons. Number one, we’ve got a very complete portfolio. We’ve got frozen. We’re going to introduce refrigerated in the first quarter of 2020. And we even have an ambient offering in our Leaf Jerky that we’re in test right now that we’re optimistic about the potential there. So a full on complete portfolio. We have the scale that is Kellogg from a manufacturing standpoint, from a sales standpoint, from an R&D standpoint. I’ve been trying our food on a very regular basis that we’re going to introduce in the first quarter, and I am very pleased with the food and very proud of our R&D team that have really created a best-in-class refrigerated offering that we’re very excited to be launching. We’ve had a number of customers trying that as well. And so as I look at the totality of what we bring, Morningstar Farms, the brand, the heritage, the tradition, the insights that we have, the complete portfolio that we have, the poultry offerings, which continue to do extremely well, I think we’ve got a real gem in our portfolio, and you’ll see more of that come through.
- And I guess, I would just end with the fact that even without the refrigerated offering being in the market yet, you’re seeing a real acceleration as we talked about in our veggie business. Morningstar consumption was up nearly 11% in quarter 3, gaining 120 basis points of share. So we’re very pleased with the team and what they’ve accomplished and believe that the best days for that business are clearly in front of us.
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basically i like having kelloggs in my portfolio because the company keeps giving great quarters. (4 consecutive growing and beating estimates), reliable, something easy to understand , great products (pringles grows 30% and sustained momentum, outstanding opportunities in emerging markets) and 2 important secular trends — frozen foods and snacks growing 50% in the millennial categories. Its a small segment but good growth. Strong health trends too and that’s where kelloggs snacks are focused on — their innovation as well as for Conagra are what really stood out for me. - kelloggs can compete very well with beyondmeat.
kelloggs is plantbased play, emerging markets play, snacks play, frozen foods play. 4 big secular trends + attractive dividend + healthy valuation. Marry this company. Invest in it.
