Tiger's grand plans for Mrs Ball's

Tiger Brands CEO Peter Matlare said recently that for the company it was not just about acquiring an iconic brand.

"We've been pursuing this 'lady' for a very long time. Thank goodness Unilever relented eventually, but it's not just about getting her in. It really is about what we do with this brand. Over the next couple of years you'll see this brand continue to evolve into areas that we believe she has some real equity," he said.

Mrs Ball's Chutney, one of SA's treasured food brands that generated turnover of R189m in 2011, is the original recipe of Amelia Ball, who made the product for her family and friends during the First World War. Unilever SA chairman Marijn van Tiggelen said at the time of the sale of the brand that the company had reviewed its brand portfolio and decided to sell after finding "that Unilever could not give the focus to Mrs Ball's that this iconic South African brand deserved".

Tiger Brands' portfolio includes All Gold, Tastic and Koo brands.

"In the majority of the categories in which we operate, if we do not innovate at an even greater rate and invest even more behind our brands, we believe that the relevance of those brands will diminish with respect to our consumers," Matlare said.

Escalating utility, education and transport costs have put a strain on South African households, eroding their spending power.

As disposable income comes under pressure, consumer-facing groups have to lift their game as they battle each other for their share of consumers' wallets.

"If you look at the last three years, with respect to nondurable goods, where we play in the main, you will see the decline, and we are quite clear that this slowdown in consumer spending is likely to continue," Matlare said.

"Given the debt cycle that individual consumers are in we are going to have to relook very carefully at pack sizes, pack formats, which we have been doing in many of our businesses for a while, but that has to intensify and increase."

Pioneer Foods CEO Phil Roux said last month a heightened focus on revenue growth management supported by brand revitalisation and innovation, together with resetting the cost base and the repositioning of the operating model in the short to medium term, would be key to enhancing the group's profitability and overall competitiveness.

The company reported a 0.6% fall in headline earnings per share to 218c for the six months to March.

Source: Business Day