Compelling post from Alicja Spaulding on her concerns for the entire food industry sector and the lessons learned on the bankruptcy that has sadly transpired at Del Monte Foods. She gets underneath potential root cause factors and how to help other companies move in a better direction. Supply Chain inefficiency including forecast challenge liabilities and a general lack of connected dynamic inventory management systems, contribute significantly to their financial woes. It's time for a change. Adapt or risk the consequences. She says, that the root problem is existential: their core competency became their core liability. They’re not alone. Over the last 18 months, the food industry has experienced its most dramatic restructuring in decades: → $40B+ in M&A deals → 49% spike in bankruptcies → 30+ food companies filed with liabilities exceeding $4B combined https://lnkd.in/ge5mPptt
Marketing AI Professor | AI x Food x Marketing | Strategic Advisor & Consultant | Fractional CMO | Keynote Speaker
The Del Monte Foods bankruptcy is a warning for the food industry. Del Monte survived 140 years. Two world wars. The Great Depression. Countless recessions. But it couldn't survive changing grocery shopping habits. Think about it… for most of human history, the biggest food challenge was preservation. How do you keep fruit fresh when there's no refrigeration? How do you feed soldiers on long campaigns? How do you stock remote mining towns? Del Monte's answer: Put it in a can. Genius. For over a century, shelf stable was a competitive advantage. Now we think: canned = processed preservatives = unhealthy shelf-stable = why not just buy fresh? That same preservation technology is now the exact reason consumers reject them. We've moved from a world of food scarcity to food abundance. When food was scarce, preservation was valuable. When food is abundant, freshness becomes the premium. Del Monte’s $125M interest expense and rising steel tariffs are just the financial symptoms. The root problem is existential: their core competency became their core liability. They’re not alone. Over the last 18 months, the food industry has experienced its most dramatic restructuring in decades: → $40B+ in M&A deals → 49% spike in bankruptcies → 30+ food companies filed with liabilities exceeding $4B combined Mars dropped $35.9B to buy Kellanova. PepsiCo is spending billions too to scoop up better for you brands. Many legacy players are quietly restructuring or going away altogether. The companies that survive market shifts don't just adapt their products…they completely reimagine what problem they're solving. So I keeping asking myself…What strength in the food industry might actually be tomorrow's weakness? Because if a 140 year track record can vanish that fast...what is truly safe?
