New consumer trends have spurred companies to rethink their long-term strategies in the food and drink space. There are a far greater proportion of consumers who refer to themselves as vegetarians or vegans. Because of this, there has been a huge push for plant-based alternative offerings. Today, I want to zero-in on an offering from a top food and beverage company in the United States.
Kraft Heinz is a Pittsburgh-based company that manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and around the world. The company released its fourth quarter (Q4) and full year fiscal 2023 earnings on February 14. In Q4 2023, Kraft Heinz saw net sales drop 7.1% year over year. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Kraft Heinz delivered adjusted EBITDA growth of 5% for the full year in 2023.
Back in February 2022, Kraft Heinz announced a joint venture with TheNotCompany. Since then, it has sought to leverage this partnership and dip its toes into plant-based alternatives. In March, Oscar Mayer, a division of Kraft Heinz, announced the debut of its first-ever plant-based hot dog. This comes after the debut of Kraft’s NotCheese slices in June 2023.
Oscar Mayer’s NotSausages and NotHotDogs have promised the same great taste to the new consumers it is trying to capture. The plant-based food market is still geared up for big growth over this decade, and Kraft Heinz hopes to leverage its powerful brand to take advantage of that trend.
Shares of Kraft Heinz currently possess a favourable price-to-earnings ratio of 15 at the time of this writing. It also offers a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share. That represents a solid 4.5% yield.
