The Kraft Heinz Company is reportedly selling its Planters brand for USD 3 billion. Reports suggest that Kraft Heinz is in talks with Spam owner Hormel for the deal. According to people familiar with the development, the deal can be officially announced as soon as within a week if things go as planned. To prepare for the deal, Kraft Heinz started looking at different series of products to fulfill the needs of consumers. The company has been off late trimming products that were not popular among customers. It also sold part of its cheese business. The deal was worth Rs USD 3.2 billion and was purchased by Lactalis.
Planters are famous for snack mixes and nuts. It was founded by two Italian immigrants in 1906. Also, the company has a mascot, Mr. Peanut. The biggest turnaround for the brand came during the last year because of an advertisement. This ad resurrected the brand and placed it in a comfortable position in the market. ‘Saturday Night Live’ and the Yorker cartoon were also sparked from the campaign. The brand decided to give away USD 5 million that it would spend on an ad. Kraft and Heinz merged in a mega-deal in 2015. They later bought Planters through a series of mergers. The nut brand was brought into its portfolio in 2000 after Kraft acquired Nabisco Brands.
Hormel is in the business of selling grocery items and numerous meats. The lists of items also include Skippy peanut butter. If the deal is finalized, it would be the biggest acquisition to date for Hormel. However, Kraft Heinz has declined to comment on the development. Hormel too opted to keep mum for the moment. For the uninitiated, Kraft Heinz had announced in September last year that it intends to cut USD 2 billion in costs over four years. The company said that it would use the fund to boost spending on marketing by 20 percent.
