Campbell’s Goldfish crackers get $160m production boost

01-Aug-2023 - Last updated on 01-Aug-2023 at 09:10 GMT

Goldfish crackers are the largest driver of growth for the entire cracker category. Pic: Campbell Snacks

Campbell Soup Company is hoping a $160m refurbishment to its Pepperidge Farm bakery in Richmond, Utah, will tip its Goldfish cracker brand over the billion-dollar sales mark.

For the second quarter ended 29 January 2023, president and CEO Mark A. Clouse said the Goldfish brand was close to achieving the company’s goal of $1 billion in annual sales. The brand’s performance had underpinned revenue of the company’s Snacks division of $1.08bn, up 15% from $934 million in the previous year’s second quarter.

Largest driver of growth for the entire cracker category

“We are No. 1 in both the cookie, cracker and salty snack categories in terms of share growth in the second quarter,” said Clouse said in the earnings call with analysts.

“This continues to highlight how unique our snack brands are and why we see such a bright future for this portfolio. One of those brands, Goldfish, which is climbing to our goal of $1 billion in annual sales, continues to be the star of the Snacks business.

“As one of the company’s primary growth engines, the brand continues to perform extremely well with 21% consumption growth and share gains of 0.7 points. This was the second consecutive quarter of Goldfish being the largest driver of growth for the entire cracker category.”

The investment in its Richmond facility will boost production by 50% to around five million Goldfish crackers an hour - that’s 1,500 bites every second.

Onsite flour mill

The expansion also includes the construction of an onsite flour mill that will be separately owned and operated by Utah Flour Milling. The mill is a partnership between PHM Brands’ Panhandle Milling and NIPPN CORPORATION and is targeted to increase supply reliability, provide capacity for continued growth and improve plant efficiency.

In addition, it will significantly reduce the site’s greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating over 2,200 trucks per year transporting the flour from mill to bakery.

“Goldfish is an iconic brand that is quickly approaching a billion-dollar business, and this investment demonstrates our commitment to the growth of our brands and the communities where we operate,” said Chris Foley, executive VP and president of Campbell Snacks.

With a bakery in Richmond and operations in Logan, the company currently employs more than 400 people in the Cache Valley region and will add more than 80 jobs with this investment.

This is Campbell’s third Goldfish capacity expansion in the past two years, following bakery expansions in Lakeland, Florida, and Willard, Ohio, the latter affectionately dubbed the ‘Goldfish Capital’. The new project is expected to be operational by the end of 2024 and create more than 80 jobs.

Camden, New Jersey-headquartered Campbell has been ‘connecting people through food’ for more than 150 years, generating net sales of $8.6bn (in 2022) for iconic brands such as Campbell’s, Cape Cod, Goldfish, Kettle Brand, Lance, Late July, Milano, Pace, Pacific Foods, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, Snyder’s of Hanover, Swanson and V8.

The company has a heritage of giving back and acting as a good steward of the environment: being a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500, as well as the FTSE4Good and Bloomberg Gender-Equality Indices.