Can Kool-Aid, Jell-O and Oscar Mayer hot dogs be made “healthy”?
When we look at the world of organic, natural, non-GMO foods, brands such as Capri Sun, Oscar Mayer and Jell-O are not what come to mind. Kraft Heinz’s CEO Bernardo Hees explains in a recent Wall Street Journal interview that he and his team are attempting to change that view with such products at the food giant:
MR. HEES: The most important job I need to do related to the brands is have them be relevant. With our Capri Sun drinks, for example, until two years ago I didn’t have an all natural platform, I didn’t have an organic platform. So even with consumers telling me great things about Capri Sun—you all grew up with good memories about the brand—you wouldn’t choose it anymore. I didn’t have the right product offering. [Kraft Heinz has since begun to address this issue by, for example, introducing organic and no-added-sugar versions of Capri Sun, Oscar Mayer hot dogs without byproducts and Kraft Mac & Cheese with no artificial coloring.]
See Full Interview: Kraft Heinz, Maker of Kool-Aid and Jell-O, Thinks Healthy – WSJ
In the coming days, we’ll be sharing with subscribers our insights into world of “natural foods”, part of something we call our Clean Living investment theme, but the implication this interview reveals is clear — this change in consumer preference when it comes to food is no longer constrained to a single aisle at the mainstream grocery store or just at Amazon’s (AMZN) Whole Foods Market. No, when the CEO of Kraft Heinz is talking about making a natural version of something made by boiling the bones and hides of animals (yes, that’s what gelatin is in case you didn’t know) then we’ve got real change going on.
The question that remains — the one we really wish the Wall Street Journal has asked Mr. Hees, but didn’t — is that with the recent movement towards the banning of plastic drinking straws, how are kids going to drink their Capri Suns?
