Conagra Brands, the US food manufacturer plans to invest an incremental $125 million in fiscal 2027 to strengthen its supply chain and lower costs by moving more production in-house.
According to President and ceo John Brase, the spending will contribute to goals of improving supply chain resiliency, maintaining high service levels, and reducing inventory and days of inventory. “I don’t believe we’re investing enough in our brands and our supply chain, again, why you’ve seen a significant step-up and investment there”, Brase stated.
The increased spending follows previous operational challenges, including stalled chicken production, a frozen-vegetable shortage, and tariffs on tinplate steel. Senior Director of Investor Relations Matthew Neisius noted that Conagra is prioritizing supply chain resiliency as part of plans to spend 4% to 5% of net sales on capital expenditures.
As part of its Project catalyst initiative, unveiled last December Conagra is using technology and artificial intelligence to re-engineer and automate core business processes. Operational simplification will also involve re-evaluating the 5,500 SKUs across its portfolio.
Source: Food Dive
