Kraft Heinz Sees Early Turnaround Gains as $700M Brand Bet Builds Momentum

Kraft Heinz’s $700 million reinvestment is showing early results: the share of its business holding or gaining market share rose from 21% to 35%, while Heinz condiments in North America shifted from a 3% decline to 3% growth.

Emerging markets and foodservice are key growth drivers, with emerging markets growing at a high-single-digit rate and Away From Home sales returning to 3% growth.

However, Oscar Mayer remains a major weakness, accounting for 60% of first-half share losses due largely to Deli Fresh packaging problems.

Management is prioritizing productivity, innovation and debt reduction: Kraft Heinz is targeting productivity of roughly 4.5% of cost of goods sold, has paid down $2.9 billion of debt this year, and is emphasizing products with more protein, fiber, convenience and cleaner labels.

Kraft Heinz NASDAQ: KHC Chief Executive Officer Steve Cahillane said the company is seeing early evidence that its increased brand investment is improving consumption and market-share trends, though he emphasized that performance has not yet reached acceptable levels.

Speaking at a fireside chat, Cahillane said the company initially announced a $600 million reinvestment program focused on brands, capabilities and marketing, then increased that amount to $700 million after encouraging first-half results.

The company had ended the prior year with 21% of its business holding or gaining share, a figure that has risen to 35%, according to Cahillane.

“Is that good enough? No, it is not good enough, but it is much better than 21%-35%,” Cahillane said.

Cahillane pointed to a reversal in North American Heinz condiment trends as an example of the impact of investment. Heinz brand consumption declined 3% last year, but is now up 3% and gaining share, he said.

The company has also seen improving trajectories in hydration and desserts, while 90% of its portfolio has a better trend than it did in 2025.

Global Away From Home sales have returned to 3% growth, with U.S. growth running somewhat higher, Cahillane said.

In U.S. foodservice, the company is gaining share in tomato ketchup and mayonnaise, helped by customer wins and its effort to expand Heinz’s presence beyond ketchup through a program called Heinz Verified.

Emerging markets have also become a major source of growth. Cahillane said the segment is growing at a high-single-digit rate and gaining share in every market where the company operates except Indonesia, where it had distributor challenges last year.

In Brazil, Heinz Zero launched early in the year and has delivered 80% incrementality, Cahillane said.

He also noted that Heinz has 96% worldwide awareness and 20% household penetration, compared with 94% awareness and 50% penetration for Coca-Cola.

Kraft Heinz is increasing quality distribution for Heinz products at a 5% rate in the first half, he added.

Cahillane said he sees “years and years” of potential high-single-digit to low-double-digit growth in emerging markets.

Despite broad portfolio improvement, Cahillane identified Oscar Mayer as a significant remaining issue. He said 60% of Kraft Heinz’s share losses in the first half were tied to Oscar Mayer, primarily its Deli Fresh product line.

The company identified a resealability issue with Deli Fresh packaging and introduced new packaging that began shipping in early August.