The Brutal Maths of the Biscuit Tin
Let’s be frank, the life of a mid-sized food company is getting terribly difficult. On one side, you have us, the fickle consumers, suddenly demanding oat milk and quinoa crisps instead of the sugary cereals of our youth. On the other, you have retail behemoths like Amazon and Walmart who can squeeze a supplier’s margins until the pips squeak. It’s a classic pincer movement. To survive, let alone thrive, you need scale. You need the negotiating clout to stand up to the big grocers and the deep pockets to invent the next kale-infused snack.
This is why the Ferrero deal is more than just a headline. It’s a strategic necessity. Companies are realising they must either eat or be eaten. Mondelez International, for instance, has made a fine art of gobbling up smaller brands to build its global snacking empire. Then you have a company like The Hershey Company, a giant in its own right, but one that might be looking over its shoulder. It has the cash to be a predator, but its dominance in chocolate also makes it a tempting prize for an even bigger fish. And poor old ConAgra Foods, with its portfolio of familiar but slightly tired brands, looks like a prime candidate to be snapped up by a larger player promising to inject some new life.