Campbell's sweetener could spark biscuit price war

Eli Greenblat
February 17, 2014
The Age

The Campbell Soup Company could spark a fresh price war in the Australian sweet biscuits market, a category worth around $1.3 billion, after announcing it would throw more money at advertising and promotions for its struggling Arnott’s business.
Delivering the US food giant’s performance for the three months to January, Campbell chief executive Denise Morrison confirmed its local operation, which owns biscuit brands Salada, Jatz and the celebrated Tim Tam, continued to be a drag on the company and was not expected to be a ”growth driver” in fiscal 2014.
”Restoring growth in this important business is a work in progress that will take time,” Ms Morrison said.
She said Arnott’s, which has about 51 per cent of the sweet biscuits sector, would focus on marketing Tim Tam, Shapes and Arnott’s other sweet biscuits in Australia with increased advertising and consumer promotion.
The investment in promotions and discounts could help trigger a renewed price war in the category, with Campbell’s particularly finding the going tough in the important supermarkets channel.
Last year, Campbell’s international president Luca Mignini warned the once-mighty Tim Tam brand was being challenged by margin pressure and aggressive branding competition in the sweet biscuits market.
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