Kraft Heinz turnaround efforts show early promise under new CEO Cahillane

By Anuja Bharat Mistry and Alexander Marrow

May 6 (Reuters) – Kraft Heinz beat first-quarter sales estimates on Wednesday, as the ketchup maker showed early signs that turnaround efforts under new CEO Steve Cahillane were starting to bear fruit.

Cahillane, who suspended plans to split the company in two soon after becoming CEO in January, highlighted 2025 investment efforts to revive Kraft Heinz’s U.S. sauces and condiments business and market share gains, helping lift the company’s shares around 2.7%.

“We’re still down slightly in the quarter, but our performance being better than planned, came from gaining share,” Cahillane told Reuters.

INFLATIONARY PRESSURE

Global consumer goods makers risk a fragile demand recovery unraveling as rising fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict fan inflationary pressures and push companies back toward price hikes.

Kraft Heinz is well hedged against high oil prices for 2026, Cahillane said, but warned of potential problems in the longer term.

“If the inflationary pressure continues unabated, then companies will all be hedging against significantly higher costs in 2027 and beyond,” he said.

Kraft Heinz is increasing headcount, particularly in marketing and sales, Cahillane said in prepared remarks, but is eliminating 400 roles outside North America through the year, according to an SEC filing, from around 35,000 total employees.

Quarterly sales of $6.05 billion beat the LSEG-compiled estimate of $5.89 billion, while earnings per share of 58 cents came above an estimate of 50 cents per share.

The company stuck to its annual targets, citing caution due to the macroeconomic environment, even as quarterly adjusted operating income fell 11.8% to $1.1 billion, hampered by higher advertising spend, inflationary pressures in manufacturing and other costs.

In February, it said it would invest about $600 million in marketing and research to revive its U.S. business, which has taken a hit from muted spending. The move comes even as Cahillane remains in favor of preserving the option to split the company. The pause is expected to save $300 million in costs in 2026.

Kraft Heinz has “gained efficiencies” from Cahillane’s decision not to split the company and retain scale, said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management.

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru, Alexander Marrow in London and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Editing by Pooja Desai)