Oligopoly brief: Sara Lee
Sara Lee seems like a simple enough company, a vendor of shelf-stable and frozen pastry products, one that "nobody doesn't like." But in reality the $17+ billion company is a major three-headed, multinational oligopoly, concentrating in three major product areas: food, clothing, and personal/household acre products. This may sound like a lack of focus, but within each product area, the company has staked out very specific categories.
In the food area, Sara Lee specializes n baked goods, coffee, and packaged meat products.
In apparel, the company specializes in hosiery, underwear, intimate apparel, and activewear (T-shirts).
In personal/household care, the company has a wide variety of products from insecticides to shoe polish, detergents to baby care. This division is big in Europe, modest in the U.S. The company, founded in the 1950's, has paused in its frantic course of acquisitions since 2001. In that year, it acquired EarthGrains bread company.
Here is an abbreviated list of the brands the company has accumulated. We've stuck with the better known international and American brands, but be aware that the company has a a presence in over 200 countries and supports many local brands.
Sara Lee Brands
| Product family |
Brands |
Comments |
| Baked goods |
Bimbo, Break Cake, Colonial, Earth Grains, Grant's Farm, Kern's, Mother's, Mr. Pita, Old Home, Ortiz, Sara Lee, 23 others (mostly European)
Under license: Country Hearth, Holsum, Roman Meal, Sunbeam, Sunmaid, Taystee, 3 others |
The number two bakery company in the U.S, after Interstate Bakeries (Wonder Bread) |
| Packaged meat |
Ballpark, Best's Kosher, Bryan, Hillshire Farm, Imperial, Jimmy Dean, Kahn's, Rudy's Farm, Sara Lee, Shofar, Sinai 48, over 35 other brands |
Also a major provider to the food service industry |
| Coffee and Tea |
Chase & Sanborn, Chock Full o' Nuts, Douwe Egberts, Hills Brothers, Superior, over 27 others (mostly European) |
Superior is the #1 brand of coffee sold to the food service industry; the company also sells coffee machines to restaurants and catering groups. |
| Apparel (underwear, legwear, and sportswear) |
Bali, Barely There, Beefy-T, Champion, Dim, Hanes, Just My Size, Lovable, L'eggs, Outer banks, Playtex, Philippe Matignon, Sheer Energy, Wonderbra, over 32 others (mostly European)
Under license: DKNY, Fila, Polo Ralph Lauren, 4 others |
#1 in U.S. in intimate wear |
| Household care and personal grooming: |
Ambi-Pur, Aqua Velva, Brylcreem, Endust, Kiwi, Matey, Sanex, Ty-D-Bol, over 43 others (mostly European) |
This area is only mildly developed in the U.S., but very big in Europe |
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