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Campbell Takes Actions to Reshape Portfolio toward Faster-Growing Spaces; Outlines Fiscal 2018 Priorities

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Highlights Innovative Partnerships, Pending Acquisition

CAMDEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul. 19, 2017–
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) today outlined its strategies
to drive growth in a rapidly-changing food landscape at its annual
investor day. Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Denise
Morrison, the company declared its goal to be the leading health and
well-being food company. Executives detailed plans to strengthen
Campbell’s core business and expand into faster-growing spaces through
four strategic imperatives:

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170719006001/en/

At its annual Investor Meeting, Campbell outlined plans to build greater trust with consumers throug ...

At its annual Investor Meeting, Campbell outlined plans to build greater trust with consumers through real food, transparency and sustainability; accelerate digital marketing and e-commerce efforts; continue to diversify Campbell’s portfolio in fresh foods and health and well-being; and increase its presence in the faster-growing snacking category. (Photo: Business Wire)

  1. Building greater trust with consumers through real food, transparency
    and sustainability;
  2. Accelerating digital marketing and e-commerce efforts;
  3. Continuing to diversify Campbell’s portfolio in fresh foods and health
    and well-being; and
  4. Increasing its presence in the faster-growing snacking category.

Morrison said, “In the last six years, we’ve made significant progress
activating our Purpose, ‘Real Food that Matters for Life’s Moments,’ and
transforming our portfolio toward faster-growing spaces. Our intention
has been to move Campbell in the direction of health and well-being. We
are committed to accelerating those efforts and strive to be the leading
health and well-being food company because we recognize that real food
and healthier food is better for our consumers and better for our
business.”

Today, Campbell has approximately $1 billion in annual net sales from
fresh products and its portfolio provides nearly 15 billion servings of
vegetables and more than 2.4 million tons of whole grains to consumers
annually. The company’s organic portfolio is in the top 10 in the
industry and growing at double digits.

In response to changing consumer needs around health and well-being,
Campbell has taken deliberate steps to reshape its portfolio through
internal innovation, changes to its recipes and a series of
acquisitions, including Bolthouse Farms, Plum Organics, and Garden Fresh
Gourmet, as well as the pending acquisition of Pacific Foods, a leading
producer of organic broth and soup.

Morrison said, “Campbell‘s goal to lead in health and well-being is
attainable, but we will need to redouble our efforts by extending the
real food credentials of our current brands and adding more brands that
resonate with consumers; improving our rate of innovation; and
increasing our distribution capabilities in new channels. Some of this
we can build ourselves, but in other instances we will have to leverage
external development.”

Ed Carolan, President – Campbell Fresh, discussed the division’s
portfolio role to accelerate CPG sales growth and expand into new
categories, as he outlined plans to return the division to growth
through a combination of increased beverage capacity, improved customer
service levels, more effective agricultural strategies and higher levels
of marketing, with continued focus on innovation and quality standards.

Building Trust Through Real Food, Transparency and Sustainability

Campbell unveiled an agreement with The Sage Project to partner on
digital disclosure of ingredients using Sage’s food data platform.
Combining technology with design, Sage is creating online food labels
for the digital world, making information about calories, nutrition,
ingredients and attributes open, accessible and easy for consumers to
understand. Campbell’s
Well Yes! soup varieties
are the first products to bring The
Sage Project’s SKU level transparency to Campbell’s platforms.

These efforts complement Campbell’s commitment to its real food
philosophy with an ongoing investment of $50 million over the next
several years in the core business to evolve its products to more
closely align with consumer wants and needs.

Mark Alexander, President – Americas Simple Meals and Beverages,
outlined steps to reinvent the center store with the division’s focus on
making real food available to more people. Campbell plans to complete
the transition of all soups in the U.S. and Canada to non-BPA lined cans
for the upcoming soup season and expects to convert to chicken with no
antibiotics for all soups in its portfolio by the end of the calendar
year.

Accelerating Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Efforts

Alexander also highlighted Campbell’s plans to accelerate the company’s
digital and e-commerce capabilities by forming an e-commerce unit in
North America. Campbell has a goal of generating $300 million in
e-commerce sales over the next five years.

Alexander said, “We’re investing in digital and e-commerce across the
enterprise with a goal of building industry-leading capabilities and
relationships that will drive innovation in this space.”

To support these efforts, the company announced it has hired Shakeel
Farooque as Vice President and Head of Digital and E-Commerce to lead
the unit. Farooque’s background is in retail, where he leveraged data to
understand consumer behaviors and build omni-channel capabilities for
Kohl’s, eBay and Amazon, Inc. The company also outlined its plans to
partner with leading e-commerce companies, such as the recently
announced $10 million investment and strategic partnership with online
meal kit company Chef’d, and steps it is taking to create a more
flexible distribution system to serve e-commerce channels.

Broadening the Lens of the Faster-Growing Snacking Category

Luca Mignini, President – Global Biscuits and Snacks, highlighted
Campbell’s opportunities in the increasingly attractive area of
snacking, as 90 percent of consumers snack multiple times a day and more
than 50 percent of all U.S. eating occasions are snacks.1

Mignini outlined the division’s growth plans in fiscal 2018 to expand
the division’s footprint: drive the snacking portfolio in U.S. Biscuit
and Bakery and Australia; and pursue expansion in developing markets.

Carlos Abrams-Rivera, President – U.S. Biscuits and Bakery, discussed
Campbell’s opportunity to leverage brands across the Campbell portfolio
to penetrate snacking occasions beyond its core cracker and biscuit
business, which includes icon brands Goldfish crackers, Milano
cookies, Kelsen biscuits and Arnott’s baked snacks. He outlined
Campbell’s goal to make snacks with real food ingredients accessible to
all consumers and an enterprise-wide snacking strategy designed to
accelerate the company’s efforts.

Campbell anticipates adding approximately $200 million in sales across
its three divisions over the next five years by broadening its snacking
business beyond cookies and baked snacks to include soup, mini meals and
fresh snacks, with a focus on mindful kids snacking.

A replay of the presentations, along with accompanying slides, will be
available at investor.campbellsoupcompany.com
after the completion of the event.

About Campbell Soup Company

Campbell (NYSE:CPB) is driven and inspired by our Purpose: “Real food
that matters for life’s moments.” We make a range of high-quality soups
and simple meals, beverages, snacks and packaged fresh foods. For
generations, people have trusted Campbell to provide authentic,
flavorful and readily available foods and beverages that connect them to
each other, to warm memories and to what’s important today. Led by our
iconic Campbell’s brand, our portfolio includes Pepperidge
Farm, Bolthouse Farms, Arnott’s, V8, Swanson, Pace, Prego, Plum, Royal
Dansk, Kjeldsens
and Garden Fresh Gourmet. Founded in 1869,
Campbell has a heritage of giving back and acting as a good steward of
the planet’s natural resources. The company is a member of the Standard
& Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. For more
information, visit www.campbellsoupcompany.com
or follow company news on Twitter via @CampbellSoupCo.
To learn more about how we make our food and the choices behind the
ingredients we use, visit www.whatsinmyfood.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains “forward-looking statements” that reflect the
company’s current expectations about the impact of its future plans and
performance on the company’s business or financial results. These
forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions and estimates
that could be inaccurate and which are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The factors that could cause the company’s actual results
to vary materially from those anticipated or expressed in any
forward-looking statement include (1) the company’s ability to manage
changes to its organizational structure and/or business processes; (2)
the company’s ability to realize projected cost savings and benefits
from its efficiency programs; (3) the impact of strong competitive
responses to the company’s efforts to leverage its brand power in the
market; (4) the impact of changes in consumer demand for the company’s
products and favorable perception of the company’s brands; (5) the
impact of product quality and safety issues, including recalls and
product liabilities; (6) the risks associated with trade and consumer
acceptance of the company’s initiatives, including its trade and
promotional programs; (7) the impact of a changing customer landscape,
with value and e-commerce retailers expanding their market presence,
while certain of the company’s key customers continue to increase their
significance to the company’s business; (8) the impact of changing
inventory management practices by certain of the company’s key
customers; (9) the impact of disruptions to the company’s supply chain,
including fluctuations in the supply of and inflation in energy and raw
and packaging materials cost; (10) the impact of non-U.S. operations,
including trade restrictions, public corruption and compliance with
foreign laws and regulations; (11) the ability to complete and to
realize the projected benefits of acquisitions, divestitures and other
business portfolio changes; (12) the uncertainties of litigation and
regulatory actions against the company; (13) the possible disruption to
the independent contractor distribution models used by certain of the
company’s businesses, including as a result of litigation or regulatory
actions affecting their independent contractor classification; (14) the
company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights; (15) the
impact of an impairment to goodwill or other intangible assets; (16) the
impact of increased liabilities and costs related to the company’s
defined benefit pension plans; (17) the impact of a material failure in
or breach of the company’s information technology systems; (18) the
company’s ability to attract and retain key talent; (19) the impact of
changes in currency exchange rates, tax rates, interest rates, debt and
equity markets, inflation rates, economic conditions, law, regulation
and other external factors; (20) the impact of unforeseen business
disruptions in one or more of the company’s markets due to political
instability, civil disobedience, terrorism, armed hostilities, natural
disasters or other calamities; and (21) other factors described in the
company’s most recent Form 10-K and subsequent Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. The company disclaims any obligation or intent to
update the forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this release.

1 Hartman Group, 2016. Hartman Group, 2014.

Source: Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Ken
Gosnell, 856-342-6081
[email protected]
or
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Thomas Hushen, 856-342-5227
[email protected]

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