Situation

Hunt’s Snack Pack Pudding and Gelatin was the #1 brand in shelf-stable, single-serve cup snacks.  However, it faced strong competition (e.g., Handi-Snacks Pudding in the shelf-stable category and Jell-O in the refrigerated category).

As Product Manager at ConAgra Foods, Linda led the launch of Hunt’s Snack Pack Family Packs (larger pack sizes, in display-ready cases) across the Grocery, Mass Merchandiser and Club Store classes of trade.  The purpose was to help sustain the strength of Hunt’s Snack Pack and increase volume per user, to drive increased brand loyalty and sales growth.

In addition, ConAgra had recently built an additional pudding plant.  This was a significant investment yielding much greater production capacity and the need to generate a return on capital investment as soon as possible.

Results

Family Pack:  This launch was highly successful in growing product usage patterns and stimulating on-going sales growth.  In fact, today, more than 12 years after introduction, the items still enjoy strong distribution.

Capacity Utilization:  After successfully managing base business growth and new product introductions for several domestic brands within ConAgra, Linda developed the entire strategy to introduce shelf-stable, ready-to-eat desserts into Mexico.  This included defining the brand’s positioning, target market, product types and SKUs, planning the promotion, pricing and merchandising strategies, managing the design of packaging and collateral materials, managing the relationship with Mexican distributors, and directing the launch to their sales force.