NEW YORK — Thirteen years after it was acquired from Nestle S.A. for about $118 million, the Ortega brand business of B&G Foods continues to spin positive results for the Parsippany, N.J.-based company. When B&G Foods acquired Ortega, the brand had $77 million in sales. Today, it’s over $115 million.
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| Robert Cantwell, president and c.e.o. of B&G Foods |
“Certainly, (Ortega is) a brand that has performed extremely well in our portfolio,” Robert Cantwell, president and chief executive officer of B&G Foods, told participants at the Stephen Springs Investment Conference on June 7. “It’s been a very successful business for us, and certainly our second largest business in our portfolio.”
Ortega may not be the top-selling brand in its category — Mr. Cantwell acknowledged that Old El Paso tends to perform better — but he still sees the value the brand has in the segment.
“As you look at the last 13 weeks, 26 weeks are up 4% on Ortega — the whole category is up still,” Mr. Cantwell said. “We just see that as a lot more opportunity to come.”
He continued, “This is not a trade-driven category, there’s lots of promotional spending from time to time, but it’s not given that at this time of year, you sell Ortega at this price because Old El Paso is selling at this price. So, it gives the category and the brands in the category a lot more opportunity to support the brands with consumers and really try to drive its brand on the whole category. So, that category is all about line extensions and being creative, and just different ways for people to eat kind of their taco meals. Taco … has been a very successful business for us, and certainly our second largest business in our portfolio.”
