Corporate Profiles - 2020 - 76

COMPANY OVERVIEW

in 2020 he continued to make significant adjustments to the Flowers
organizational structure. Several major changes in July were aimed at brand
building, including the consolidation of the company's Fresh Packaged Bread
business unit and its Specialty/Snacking business unit. H. Mark Courtney,
who had been president of the Fresh Packaged Bread business unit, was
named chief brand officer and will lead the consolidated unit. Mr. Courtney
is now responsible for managing all Flowers brands, revenue management,
shopper marketing (in-store and online promotional) and brand partnership
programs.
Also to strengthen the company's brands, innovation was established as
a stand-alone function at the company, headed by Debo Mukherjee, chief
marketing officer. Mr. Mukherjee has been CMO at Flowers since joining the
company in 2017.
With the changes, the Flowers struggling cake business has been
established as a standalone unit. Longtime Flowers executive David
M. Roach, who most recently was president of the Snacking/Specialty
business unit, was named president of Cake Operations. He will focus
exclusively "on improving that area of the business," Flowers said.
While announcing the new business structure, Flowers said it was
eliminating 250 positions across different departments and job levels "to
better balance the resources required to support the company's business."
The cuts followed a portfolio review conducted by the company

beginning in late 2019. The company said it also invested in tools and
capabilities to help it make informed strategic choices around assortment,
pricing, distribution and innovation, Mr. McMullian said.
"It will also help us more efficiently weed out unprofitable products
or unprofitable accounts that contribute nothing but added cost and
complexity," he continued. "And it will generate opportunities for supply
chain and overhead optimization. So the true crux of this effort is to drive
out valueless complexity and improve our operational efficiencies."
Following the brand review, the company has retired two of its brands
- Cobblestone Bread Co. and Alpine Valley. Cobblestone, positioned
for decades as Flowers' super premium brand, underwent a major
update in 2014 repositioning the brand to appeal to millennials. Alpine
Valley, an organic bread brand acquired in 2015, has consistently been
overshadowed by the rapidly growing Dave's Killer Bread brand, also
acquired in 2015.
In early September, Flowers announced the hiring of a new chief
supply chain officer. Brad Cashaw, a seasoned veteran in the supply
chain arena who took the new position Sept. 8, is responsible for
Flowers' supply chain operations and reports to Bradley K. Alexander,
chief operating officer. He succeeds Robert L. Benton Jr., who last
November was named to the newly created role of executive vice
president of network optimization. CP

Flowers Foods product mix

Flowers Foods branded retail
in millions

(52 weeks ended Dec. 31, 2019)
Fiscal 2019
Net sales

% change from year ago
$2,482

Fresh snack
cakes, pastries
16%

+5.7%

Frozen bread, rolls
7%

in millions

Flowers Foods store branded retail
Fiscal 2019
Net sales

Fresh bread,
buns, rolls,
tortillas
77%

% change from year ago
$645

Flowers Foods sales channels
(52 weeks ended Dec. 31, 2019)
+10%

All other
4%

Convenience
store
4%

Flowers Foods non-retail and other
in millions

Food service
21%
Fiscal 2019
Net sales

% change from year ago
Mass merchandiser/
discount
32%

$997

Supermarket/
drug stores
38%

-2.1%

76 \ October 2020

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Corporate Profiles

Corporate Profiles - 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Corporate Profiles - 2020