The Hillshire Brands Co. presented at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York's (CAGNY) annual conference. Sean Connolly, president and CEO and Maria Henry, chief financial officer shared the company's four core strategies for growth:

• Strengthen the core brands with increased investment behind improved advertising, upgrades to product quality and packaging, and category management
• Extend trademarks into adjacent categories with new product innovations
• Drive greater cost efficiencies in supply chain, trade spend, and through shift in corporate culture
• Acquire on-trend businesses that align with strategic vision and create shareholder value

"It is an exciting time for Hillshire Brands. We remain focused on creating long-term shareholder value by strengthening our strong brands with leading innovation and marketing support," said Connolly. "Equally, we continue to advance our cost efficiency programs as fuel for growth."

"Overall, while it is still early days, we are quite encouraged by the progress we see in the business and within our company culture," Connolly added.

The company's core brands - Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, Aidells, Gallo and Sara Lee - are leaders in their respective categories. To support these brands, the company plans to ramp up innovation, sharpen marketing positioning and increase MAP investment to five percent of revenues by fiscal 2015.

In addition, the company has plans to create a sustainable innovation pipeline, streamline time to market and reinvigorate consumer insights. The presentation highlighted numerous upgrades to product quality and packaging, new line extensions and adjacent innovations.

Source: Hillshire Brands