Friday, February 22, 2019

Heinz-Kraft fortunes plunge

Shares of Kraft Heinz Co declined by 20 per cent – by $12 billion US - late Thursday after the food company posted a quarterly loss, disclosed an Securities Exchange Commission investigation and wrote down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands.

The company is owned by Warren Buffet and the 3G Group from Brazil, the same team that bought Tim Horton’s, Burger King and Popeye’s.

The 3G partners are in charge of managing the companies and have a reputation for ruthless firing of experienced executives in place when they took over the companies.

For example, they fired the entire head-office staff at Tim Horton’s and then gave next-tier employees, such as regional managers, only minutes to justify why they should retain their jobs.

The company blamed declining sales on trends in consumer preferences. However, Fortune magazine reported months ago that 3G has a track record of boosting short-term profits by slashing costs, but also declining sales revenues.