Campbell Soup creates snacks division with acquisition of Snyder’s-Lance

Completing its all-cash acquisition of Snyder’s-Lance, Inc., Monday, Campbell Soup Co. will fold that company in with Pepperidge Farms to create the Campbell Snacks division.

Campbell President and CEO Denise Morrison said the move pushes the company to more than $10 billion in expected sales and puts almost half of Campbell’s sales in the fast-growing snacking category.

“The combination of Campbell and Snyder’s-Lance creates a unique, diversified snacking portfolio of differentiated brands and a large variety of better-for-you snacks for consumers,” she said. “I am excited about the combination and confident that it will create significant shareholder value through both revenue growth and cost synergies.”

Campbell’s snacking portfolio enables the company to offer options serving a range of eating occasions throughout the day. The Campbell Snacks portfolio will feature Pepperidge Farm’s iconic brands, including Goldfish and Milano, along with Snyder’s-Lance’s well-known brands, such as Snyder’s of Hanover, Lance, Kettle Brand, KETTLE chips, Cape Cod, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Emerald and Late July.

Campbell’s global baked snacks product portfolio, including its Pepperidge Farm, Arnott’s and Kelsen businesses, generated approximately $2.5 billion in net sales in fiscal year 2017. With the addition of Snyder’s-Lance, snacking will now represent approximately 47 percent of Campbell’s annual net sales (previously 32 percent). Campbell’s soup portfolio will represent approximately 26 percent of the company’s annual net sales.

Campbell expects to achieve approximately $170 million in cost synergies by end of fiscal 2022. Additionally, Campbell expects to achieve approximately $125 million of Snyder’s-Lance’s existing cost transformation program.

Carlos Abrams-Rivera, former president, U.S. biscuits and snacks, will lead the new division. He will report to Luca Mignini, president, global biscuits and snacks.

“We carefully selected leaders from Campbell and Snyder’s-Lance to form the Campbell Snacks leadership team based on their expertise and understanding of how to leverage both businesses to support overall growth and profitability across the enterprise,” Abrams-Rivera said. “The Campbell Snacks team will focus on optimizing the value of our U.S. snacks business to deepen our partnership with customers through the power of the combined portfolio.”

The Campbell Snacks leadership team includes:

Chris Foley, senior vice president/chief marketing officer. He will lead efforts to drive innovation and brand building across the expanded snacks portfolio. Foley joined Campbell in 1999.
Bill Livingstone, vice president, supply chain, Snyder’s-Lance, will oversee supply chain operations at Snyder’s-Lance.
Paul Serra, vice president, supply chain, Pepperidge Farm, will oversee supply chain operations at Pepperidge Farm. Livingstone previously was responsible for overall supply chain for U.S. Biscuits and Bakery for the past eight years. Serra served as general manager for Arnott’s Malaysia & Singapore business.
Cory Onell, vice president, sales, customer development and Direct Store Delivery (DSD) operations for Campbell Snacks. He will oversee the Snyder’s-Lance Customer and Category Sales organization along with the operations at Pepperidge Farm and Snyder’s-Lance. Onell joined Pepperidge Farm in 2017 as vice president, U.S. Sales and DSD operations.
George Vindiola, vice president, research and development, Campbell Snacks. He will oversee product development and innovation for the combined portfolio. Vindiola joined Pepperidge Farm in 2016, bringing more than 20 years of research and leadership experience from Frito-Lay and PepsiCo/Frito-Lay.
Matt Wilken, vice president, strategy, Campbell Snacks. He will accelerate business strategy across Campbell Snacks. Wilken has been with Snyder’s-Lance for the last seven years in business strategy.