Mondelez' dichotomy of iconic and innovative

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Mondelez’ dichotomy of iconic and innovative

18 Jul 2023

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

CHICAGO — When it comes to family dynamics, the parent isn’t usually younger than the child. But for Chicago-based Mondelez International, that’s essentially the case. Although the company just celebrated its 10th anniversary, Mondelez is home to some of the country’s oldest and most iconic names, including OREO, Ritz and Chips Ahoy!, just to name a few, in its portfolio of global snacking brands.

“It’s an interesting dichotomy,” said Tanya Berman, senior VP at Mondelez. “We’re obviously very proud of the Mondelez company we’ve become over the past 10 years. We’ve delivered incredible financial results and provided our consumers with the right snacks at the right moments. But at the same time, we have these very revered, established brands that have been in the marketplace for a long time, so we look very carefully at how we accelerate into the future.”

Of course, the past three years have impacted the course of the future. Most brands in the snacking space have likely changed — or, at the very least, revisited — their business and go-to-market strategies.

While daily life now looks closer to the old notions of “normal,” snacking habits have evolved at breakneck speed, creating potentially long-term shifts in the market.

“After the past three years, snacking has become a bigger part of consumers’ lives,” Berman said. “Whether people are still primarily at home or returning to more mobile lifestyles, snacking is now more of an ingrained habit. And we have to stay close to our consumers, knowing how much they engage in snacking and how different products or brands fulfill different needs.”

The company is expanding its brand portfolio with the 2018 acquisition of Tate’s Bake Shop and the more recent acquisition of Clif Bar & Co. But it is also focused on product innovation inside its core brands.

For example, OREO has become known for line extensions like The Most Stuf and other limited-time offers such as Blackout Cake.

As Mondelez hits the gas pedal on growth and innovation, the company also commemorated its 10th anniversary in 2022 by launching the Vision 2030 growth strategy to strengthen its position as a global snacking leader.

After the evolution of its long-term growth strategy, Mondelez is now focused on the future with four main pillars: growth, execution, culture and sustainability.

By emphasizing growth in the chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks sectors, Mondelez is aimed at generating much of its revenue in these markets. Bringing Clif Bar into the portfolio was a bold move to support that strategy.

“When we talked about our future growth, we identified key strategic areas where we wanted to drive it,” Berman said. “Clif is an incredibly strong brand, and we see this as a huge opportunity to offer more of these types of snacks. These are products that really lean into where we are in terms of mindful snacking and strong, healthy snacks that consumers are embracing.”

Execution is critical to that commitment of growth.

“We’re driven by not just growth but also execution in bringing our products to consumers all the way through our stores,” Berman said. “We have an amazing sales organization that partners with our customers to make sure we’re delivering on that commitment.”

But while a focus on execution is consumer-facing, Mondelez also has a motto — “Local First” — that enables all the company’s brands to stay authentically connected to their workforce and consumers.

“We can be flexible and agile in how we develop innovation as we stay close to our consumers, knowing how much they’re engaging in their snacking experience,” Berman said .

Annuals: This story has been adapted from the 2023 New Product Annual issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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