Oligopoly profile: ConAgra
ConAgra is a company few Americans have heard of, but it is a major force in food production in the US and a $20 billion dollar corporation.
- First, and most notably, it is estimated to be the #3 seller of retail food products in the world (after Altria/Kraft and Nestle). Its brands are many, going from Armour to Wesson, a portfolio of brands it has collected over the past 20 years. It products are leaders in a number of categories.
- It is the largest supplier to food services and restaurants.
- The company is one of the top three buyers and processors of grain products (corn, wheat, etc.) and handles a significant portion of US grain exports.
- It is a leader in producing cattle and hog feed.
- Until 2000, when it spun off Swift & Co. to an investor group, it was one of the top three slaughterers of cattle and hog. It still has a 48% stake in that company. It is also a major client, buying meat for processing.
- It remains one of the top three poultry processing companies.
- It is a major supplier of flavoring (especially garlic) to the food industry.
- It is one of the top world traders in agricultural products.
- It has a considerable business in selling seeds, fertilizer, and agricultural chemicals around the world.
The company is just starting to expand its operation worldwide. Along with a few other companies (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Farmland) it forms an oligopsony toward many American farmers, so these companies are able to dictate prices and conditions to individual farmers. To supermarkets and food services, it is one of a handful of suppliers that can provide needed food products.
The motley collection of brand names in the chart below shows the scope of the company's efforts. The company is particularly strong in meats, prepared meals, margarine, and popcorn. The strategy has been to acquire ready-formed brands that have long histories and therefore already have mind space (Gulden's mustard, Hunt's tomato sauce, Butterball turkeys, Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Slim Jim beef jerky, Peter Pan peanut butter, and many others). Like other food companies, ConAgra is hedging its bets with organic and "healthy" alternatives (Light Life, Healthy Choice, Certified Organic) in addition to its fat- and salt-laden staples.
In other areas, it presents pseudo-variety to cover the shelves. For example, ConAgra offers three of the most popular brands of margarine (Parkay, Blue Bonnet, Fleischmann's) and three major popcorn delivery modes, namely Act II (microwave), Jiffy Pop (stovetop), and Orville Redenbacher (popper-ready).
The company has continued to aggressively acquire small rivals. For example, in 2001, it acquired Artel Foods, of Quebec, Canada, a supplier of frozen foods in the Canadian market. The brands include DelMaestro (pizzas), Pogo (corn dogs), and Yin Yang (spring rolls). In 2000,ConAgra acquired Marburger, a Nebraska company that supplies precooked bacon to the food service industry. In 2001, it acquired David, the #1 retailer of sunflower seeds. The company ahs also made discards, getting rid of its BumbleBee tuna operation in 2003.
It's interesting to see that ConAgra has followed a strategy of owning scores of recognizable brands that are staples of the American shopping basket, yet none of them seems to be a billion dollar brand. Brand creep is kept in tight rein, much tighter than with Kraft, for example. And duplication is great, with, for examples, several lines of Italian, Mexican, and Chinese groceries. It will be interesting to see if ConAgra follows the example of Unilever and others by consolidating its brand portfolio. It will also be interesting to see if the company can expand its very American products into the international market, as its biggest rivals have.
ConAgra Products
(R= retail; FS = food service; I = industrial)
| Brand |
Categories |
Brand founded |
Sold to |
Notes |
| Armour |
Fresh and packaged meats |
1867 |
R, FS |
|
| Brown 'n Serve |
Precooked sausage |
|
R |
#1 in category |
| Butterball |
Turkey |
1954 |
R, FS |
#1 in category |
| Cook's |
Ham, Corned beef |
1983 |
R |
|
| Country Pride |
Chicken |
|
R, FS |
|
| Decker |
Meats, cold cuts |
1899 |
R, FS |
|
| Eckrich |
Sausage, cold cuts, meat |
1864 |
R, FS |
|
| Hebrew National |
Sausages, cold cuts |
1905 |
R |
Kosher |
| Libby's |
Canned meat, sausage |
|
R |
|
| Longmont |
Meats |
|
FS |
|
| National Deli |
Cold cuts |
|
r, FS |
|
| Oldham's Farm |
Sausage |
|
R, FS |
|
| Pierce |
Chicken |
|
FS |
|
| Ready Crisp |
Microwave bacon |
|
R |
|
| Texas Signature |
Meats, barbecue sauce, prepared meals |
|
R, FS |
|
| Webber Farms |
Sausage |
|
R, FS |
|
| Luis Kemp |
Surimi (processed fish) |
|
R, FS, I |
|
| Meridian |
Shrimp, crab, lobster |
|
FS |
|
| Singleton |
Shrimp, crab |
|
FS |
|
| Banquet |
Prepared meals (frozen), meats |
1953 |
R |
|
| Award |
Prepared meals |
|
FS |
|
| Chef Boyardee |
Prepared meals (pasta) |
|
R |
|
| Contry Skillet |
Prepared meals (chicken) |
|
R |
|
| Dennison's |
Prepared meals (chicken) |
|
R |
|
| Fernando's |
Prepared meals (Mexican) |
|
FS |
|
| Gebhardt |
Prepared meals (Tex-Mex) |
|
r, FS |
|
| Gilardi Foods |
Prepared meals (Italian), Snacks |
|
R |
|
| Healthy Choice |
Prepared meals (frozen), ice cream, soups, sauces |
1988 |
R |
Diet foods |
| Homestyle baked |
Prepared meals |
2001 |
R |
|
| Kid Cuisine |
Prepared meals |
|
R |
|
| Lunch Maker's |
Prepared meals |
|
R |
|
| Margherita |
Prepared meals (Italian) |
|
R, FS |
|
| Marie Callender's |
Prepared meals |
1948 |
R |
|
| Patio |
Prepared meals (Tex-Mex) |
|
R |
|
| Rosarita
| Prepared meals (Mexican)
| |
R, FS |
|
| The Max |
Prepared meals, Pizza |
1988 |
FS |
|
| Wolfgang Puck's |
Prepared meals, Pizza |
1982 |
R |
|
| Angela Mia |
Frozen stuffed pasta |
|
FS |
|
| MaMa Rosa's |
Pizza, Snacks |
1979 |
R |
|
| County Line |
Deli cheese |
1920 |
R |
|
| Nikos |
Feta Cheese |
|
R |
|
| Chun King |
Chinese foods (canned, packaged) |
1946 |
R |
|
| La Choy |
Chinese foods (canned, packaged) |
1920 |
R, FS |
|
| Big Mama Sausage |
Pickled sausage snack |
|
R |
|
| Firecracker |
Pickled sausage snack |
|
R |
|
| Penrose |
Pickled sausage snack |
|
R |
|
| Pemmican |
Jerked meat snack |
|
R |
|
| Slim Jim |
Jerked meat snack |
|
R |
|
| David |
Sunflower, Pumpkin seeds |
1926 |
R |
|
| Andy Capp's |
Potato snacks |
1971 |
R |
|
| Act II |
Microwave popcorn |
1984 |
R |
#1 in category |
| Jiffy Pop |
Popcorn |
1950s |
R |
|
| Orville Reddenbacher's |
Popcorn |
1940s |
R |
|
| Crunch 'N Munch |
Snacks |
1966 |
R |
|
| Blue Bonnet |
Margarine |
1943 |
R |
#1 in category |
| Fleischmann's |
Margarine |
|
R |
|
| Move over Butter |
Butter substitute |
1992 |
R |
|
| Parkay |
Margarine |
1937 |
R |
|
| Peter Pan |
Peanut Butter |
1920 |
R |
|
| Knott's Berry Farm |
Jams, syrups, salad dressings, cookies |
1920 |
R, FS |
|
| Pam |
Cooking oil |
1959 |
R |
|
| Wesson |
Cooking oil |
1900 |
R |
|
| Luck's |
Beans |
1948 |
R |
|
| Ranch Style |
Beans |
1872 |
R |
|
| Van Camp's |
Beans, canned vegetables |
1861 |
R, FS |
|
| Wolf |
Chili |
1895 |
R |
|
| Ro*Tel |
Sauces, canned tomatoes |
1940s |
R |
|
| Gulden's |
Mustard |
1862 |
R |
|
| Egg Beaters |
Egg substitute |
1972 |
R, FS |
|
| Light Life |
Soy-based meat product |
1979 |
R |
|
| Inland Valley |
Frozen potato products |
1988 |
R |
|
| Lamb Weston |
Frozen potato product; sub-brands: Stealth Fries, Generation 7 Fries, Timesaver ingredients |
1950 |
FS |
|
| Swiss Miss |
Hot chocolate mix |
|
R |
|
| Reddi-Wip |
Dessert topping |
1948 |
R |
|
| JHS (J. Hungerford Smith) |
Dessert toppings |
1889 |
FS |
#1 in food service |
| Hunt's Snack Pack |
Ready-to-eat pudding |
|
R |
|
| Squeez 'N Go |
Ready-to-eat pudding |
|
R |
|
| Culturelle |
Dietary suppkement |
|
R |
|
| Gilroy Farms |
Fresh vegetables, garlic, flavorings; sub-brands: Certified Organic, Garden Frost, CM Vegetables, Endura Color, Redi-Made, Sunspiced, Puff-Dried |
1959 |
R |
|
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