Swiss food maker Hero Group has hinted at plans to launch more products targeted at cash-conscious consumers in 2010.
Stefan Heidenreich, CEO of a company making a range of baby food, fruit and cereal products, told just-food that the economic downturn had changed the way food makers had to approach NPD.
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“The innovation prcoess has defintely changed. You have to develop more middle-of-the-road products with great value. The consumer has a different value perception and that will never change,” Heidenreich said.
Industry watchers have questioned how consumers, forced to watch their spending during the recession, will react when the economy recovers. When asked if the economic crisis had changed the way consumers shop, Heidenreich insisted there would a permanent shift in behaviour.
“Absolutely. For good. It will not come back. That’s all bullshit. People say we will go back to the situation before the crisis. The clock is not going to turn back. It’s a new situation for all of us and we have to be agile and adapt,” Heidenreich said.
The Hero boss gave no indication of what products the family-owned company would launch but said the company had a good track-record on innovation.
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By GlobalData“At the end of the day, there is only one formula on which we are trying to do our best year on year – and that’s on innovation,” he said. “We have to bring better and more innovative products than the competition. We are very innovative in baby food but, if you talk to our peers, I think in a lot of our categories we are very innovative.”
Last month, Hero the parent of US baby-food maker Beech-Nut, booked a 0.9% fall in revenues to CHF1.79bn (US$1.67bn) for 2009.
As a private company, Hero declined to disclose its profit numbers and Heidenreich refused to be drawn on the company’s profit targets for 2010.
However, the Hero boss argued that, with three-quarters of the company’s business in Europe, the company’s 2009 financial performance was “robust”.
Heidenreich said Hero was “eyeing” opportunities to expand in the Far East but insisted the relative size of the company meant it would take a cautious approach to expansion.
“It’s no secret we are eyeing the Far East. If there is an opportunity, we will definitely grab it. Since we are private, we are relatively easy on what kind of bridge it is into the Asian market. At the end of the day, the opportnity has to be right. We’re not focused one particular country. It is a very pragmtaic approach. It’s open,” Heidenreich said.
“We’re not like Nestle. That’s not our game. We are much too small to say for example ‘I’m not India. I’ve got to go to India.’ We’re too small for that.”
