| To: richardred who wrote (3865) | 1/27/2015 10:24:28 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Hershey close to acquiring healthy snacks company Krave -sources
Jan 27 (Reuters) - Chocolate maker Hershey Co is in late-stage talks to acquire Krave, a maker of healthy beef, turkey and pork jerky snacks, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal is expected to value Sonoma, California-based Krave at between $200 million and $300 million, the people said this week. An announcement could come as soon as this week, they added.
Consolidation in the so-called better-for-you snacking category has picked up in the last year as consumers' eating habits have begun to shift.
Recent deals have included JM Smucker Co's acquisition of fruits and nuts manufacturer Sahale Snacks in August and TreeHouse Foods Inc's purchase of trail mix maker Flagstone Foods in June.
The U.S. snack industry is a $35 billion market, according to market research firm IBISWorld, with annual growth of around 4 percent.
finance.yahoo.com
P.S. <o> Wink
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| To: richardred who wrote (3846) | 1/28/2015 9:57:53 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE: Asking for a price break- It happening for suppliers to the oil patch. I'll be watching for smaller oil consolidations. I jumped a little to early on REXX & MCF. I still will hold.
RPC Warns That Oil Companies Demand Lower Costs BY GILLIAN RICH, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) warned Wednesday that oil company customers are seeking lower prices for its oilfield services as production operations get scaled back in the wake of falling oil prices.
"Customers planning to continue exploration and production activities in 2015 are seeking service cost reductions to offset the declines in their projected production revenues," said CEO Richard Hubbell in a release. "These factors will definitely have a negative impact on our 2015 financial results."
Meanwhile, other oilfield service companies are pulling back. Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) is laying off 11% of it workforce, roughly 7,000 employees. Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) slashed its capital budget and said it would cut 9,000 jobs.
It comes as producers like Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR), Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) have scaled back on operations in recent months.
Despite the plunge in crude, RPC said Q4 EPS jumped 111.8% to 36 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting 32 cents. Revenue was up 39% to $632.2 million, but fell short of views for $636.7 million.
The average domestic rig count during the quarter rose 8.9% to 1,914 vs. a year ago.
Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE), a Canadian exploration and production company, said it would cut its 2015 capital spending by an additional $700 million to $1.8 billion to $2 billion.
In December, Cenovus announced a 2015 capital spending budget of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion, a 15% reduction from 2014 levels.
"I believe crude oil prices will rebound, but the timing is uncertain. We're taking the actions we deem prudent to help protect the financial resilience of Cenovus without compromising our future," said CEO Brian Ferguson in the release.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: news.investors.com
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| To: richardred who wrote (3830) | 2/3/2015 10:47:34 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE- COKE's aspirations
I think KO has been doing plenty of moves this past year to reposition itself and diversify more away from it's mainstays. IMO the catalyst move is being self pressured and from big shareholders to make diversifying acquisitions.
I still think salty snacks (hypothetically LNCE) would be a good choice for them. It would be a much less risky hypothetical acquisition than Monster Beverage or GMCR IMO. Coke could take their time with both of them as they already have double digit stakes in both. Coke previously, and more recently looks to be covering many bases, with fruit juices and milk. One area lacking is salty snacks. Lance trades at a lower PE currently. It's also is big in vending along with Coke. I've seen KO being mentioned previously, as a logical buyer for Mondelez International. IMO With Nelson Peltz having seats on both boards of Pepsi and Mondelez,this makes a KO hypothetical acquisition less likely. The question is LNCE's scale, around 2.5 billon, is that big enough scale for KO. If not, IMO LNCE still makes a nice bolt on. Past thoughts linked to this post.
Coke bets on 'premium milk' to boost declining category
Coke bets 'premium milk' Fairlife can boost declining category; more protein, less sugar
Associated Press
By Candice Choi, AP Food Industry Writer 26 minutes ago
Coke bets on 'premium milk' to boost declining category
In this Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Fairlife milk products appear on display in the dairy section of an Indianapolis grocery store. Fairlife, which is rolling out nationally in coming weeks, is the product of a joint venture between Select Milk Producers, a dairy cooperative, and Coca-Cola. The product is filtered to have more protein and less sugar than regular milk. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
NEW YORK (AP) -- Coke is coming out with premium milk that has more protein and less sugar than regular. And it's betting people will pay twice as much for it.
The national rollout of Fairlife over the next several weeks marks Coca-Cola's entry into the milk case in the U.S. and is one way the world's biggest beverage maker is diversifying its offerings as Americans continue turning away from soft drinks.
It also comes as people increasingly seek out some type of functional boost from their foods and drinks, whether it's more fiber, antioxidants or protein. That has left the door open for Coke step into the milk category, where the differences between options remain relatively minimal and consumption has been declining for decades.
"It's basically the premiumization of milk," Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America, said at an analyst conference in November. If developed properly, Douglas said it is the type of product that "rains money."
Fairlife, which Coca-Cola formed in partnership with dairy cooperative Select Milk Producers in 2012, says its milk goes through a filtration process that's akin the way skim milk is made. Filters are used to separate the various components in milk. Then, more of the favorable components are added, while the less desirable ones are kept out.
The result is a drink that Fairlife says is lactose free and has 50 percent more protein, 30 percent more calcium and 50 percent less sugar than regular milk.
The same process is used make Fairlife's Core Power, a drink marketed to athletes that has even more protein and calcium than Fairlife milk.
Sue McCloskey, who developed the system used to make Fairlife with her husband Mike McCloskey, said Fairlife will be marketed more broadly to women who are the "gatekeepers" for their families' nutritional needs.
Related Quotes
Even while touting its nutritional advantages, however, Fairlife will need to be careful about communicating how its drink is made. Jonas Feliciano, senior beverage analyst for market researcher Euromonitor, noted people want drinks that "do something for me," but that Fairlife's juiced-up nutritional stats may make people hesitant about how natural it is.
"They have to explain that this is not an abomination of nature," Feliciano said.
Already, Fairlife has been subject to some teasing. After the drink was referenced in Coke's analyst presentation, comedian Stephen Colbert referred to it as "extra expensive science milk" and made fun of the elaborate way it's made.
"It's like they got Frankenstein to lactate," he said.
Colbert also took a dig at the wholesome image Fairlife is trying to project, noting that it's made by the "nature loving health nuts at Coca-Cola." That may explain why Coca-Cola is distancing itself from the product; a representative for the Atlanta-based company referred questions to Fairlife's outside representative.
In a phone interview, Fairlife CEO and former Coke executive Steve Jones said he thinks his company can help reverse the ongoing decline in milk consumption by offering a superior product. Major retailers including Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger and Safeway have agreed to carry it and
KO has been diversifying away from its mainstays.
Coca-Cola's Minute Maid team plans to make it available wherever milk is sold.
The drink, which comes in a sleek plastic bottle reminiscent of milk cartons, has already started appearing on shelves and is expected to continue rolling out nationally over the next several weeks.
At a supermarket in Indianapolis, a 52-ounce bottle of Fairlife was being sold for $4.59. By comparison, the national average cost for a half-gallon of milk, which is 64 ounces, is $2.18, according to the USDA. For organic milk, the average is $3.99.
Fairlife is just one of many ventures by Coca-Cola, which also recently took stakes in energy drink maker Monster Beverages and Keurig Green Mountain, which makes single-serving coffee machines and pods.
Over time, Coca-Cola is hoping premium milk can become a significant driver of growth. For now, Fairlife is still trying to find its footing in the marketplace.
This summer, the company ran ads in the test markets of Minneapolis and Denver featuring women wearing nothing but milk splashes in the shape of dresses. The images were accompanied by phrases like, "Better Milk Looks Good On You," leading them to be deemed sexist in some corners.
Jones said the ads were intended to be "disruptive," since new products need to grab people's attention. But moving forward, Fairlife plans to focus on its authentic milk taste and the farmers who produce it in national marketing, which will roll out around the end of March or April.
While declining to provide details, Jones said Fairlife intends to "crank up the awareness level very, very quickly."
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| To: The Ox who wrote (3877) | 2/3/2015 11:33:07 AM | | From: richardred | | | | HI OX- Earnings for LNCE are out soon and the last couple of qtrs have been a little disappointing. Just might be another buying opportunity down the road for myself if that pattern continues. The stock has up quite well though. IMO Mainly do to being a target. I think LNCE hypothetically and realistically might receive around a 40%-50% premium from here 42.00 - 50. WHY- The snack food space that's still public is quite limited. IMO it's also likely to receive interest from other parties. This company won't get the type of sales premium 4X sales General Mills paid for Annie's.
It growing much slower as a whole, but LNCE has made a few niche acquisitions of it's own in the faster growing healthy snacks.
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| To: richardred who wrote (3878) | 2/3/2015 11:42:11 AM | | From: The Ox | | | | Wheat and corn prices have been plunging and were in decline most of last year. One would think that these will be helpful to LNCE going forward, so your theory that they may be very attractive to a potential suitor makes a lot of sense. With relatively flat sales expectations, margins would be a great place for them to place a significant focus.
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| To: The Ox who wrote (3879) | 2/3/2015 11:52:40 AM | | From: richardred | | | | I agree, and your right on the mark with food input costs. The majors should be catching some upside as commodity cost are coming down. Especially those who were on a LIFO accounting. This if they haven't already switched to FIFO. An added bonus for LNCE. If I remember right. They have very little foreign sales. This should be a plus. Especially against Global companies that have to deal with foreign currency. The current factor being a strong US dollar.
p.s. input costs
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| To: richardred who wrote (3876) | 2/4/2015 9:46:05 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Snyder's-Lance, Inc. introduces a new corporate logo reinforcing its focus on premium branded snacks
PR Newswire
Snyder's-Lance, Inc. 43 minutes ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Snyder's-Lance, Inc. (LNCE) is introducing a new corporate logo symbolizing the completion of its strategic shift to become a branded snack food company. Snyder's-Lance is focused on serving consumers' busy lifestyles with quality, premium and differentiated snacks.
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Snyder's-Lance, Inc. is introducing a new corporate logo symbolizing the completion of its strategic shift to become a branded snack food company.
"We are dedicated to serving the snacking expectations of our consumers and retailers. As a result, we are proud to say snacking is our passion," said Carl E. Lee, Jr., CEO and President. "Our company is going through a very exciting time as we compete in a dynamic and growing category. This corporate rebranding effort reflects not only the transformation of our company but it also reinforces the energy and commitment our associates have for making great snacks."
The new logo features a modernized font, visually striking icon and colors that reflect the company's commitment to quality and wholesome ingredients. The icon also symbolizes the journey from seed to table in every Snyder's-Lance product. The new tagline, "Snacking is our passion™," demonstrates Snyder's-Lance's commitment to our consumers and their snacking needs. Together, the new logo, icon and tagline offer a fresh perspective on the company's focus and commitment to meet evolving category trends with innovative new products.
This new corporate identity is part of an overall transformation of the company, which started with the acquisition of Snack Factory® Pretzel Crisps®, and was followed by the divestiture of Lance Private Brands, the acquisition of Baptista's® Bakery and the acquisition of a majority stake in Late July®.
About Snyder's-Lance, Inc.
Snyder's-Lance, Inc., headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., manufactures and markets snack foods throughout the United States and internationally. Snyder's-Lance's products include pretzels, sandwich crackers, pretzel crackers, potato chips, cookies, tortilla chips, restaurant style crackers, nuts and other snacks. Snyder's-Lance has manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio. Products are sold under the Snyder's of Hanover®, Lance®, Cape Cod®, Snack Factory® Pretzel Crisps®, Late July®, Krunchers!®, Tom's®, Archway®, Jays®, Stella D'oro®, Eatsmart™, O-Ke-Doke® and other brand names. Products are distributed nationally through grocery and mass merchandisers, convenience stores, club stores, food service outlets and other channels. LNCE-G
Logo - photos.prnewswire.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/snyders-lance-inc-introduces-a-new-corporate-logo-reinforcing-its-focus-on-premium-branded-snacks-300030564.html |
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