Kraft Heinz is giving some of America's most familiar grocery staples an unexpected makeover in a bid to revive long-slumping sales and win back support from Wall Street.
The packaged food giant — known for brands like Heinz, Kraft, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Lunchables and Oscar Mayer — is reinventing its decades-old brands to appeal to changing consumer tastes, particularly growing demand for protein and convenient foods, CEO Steve Cahillane told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday.
"I think the mistake that was made at Kraft Heinz before I arrived in the last several years is this notion that there's a 'forever brand,' that brands can just live on the history of their past," Cahillane said after Kraft Heinz held an investor day earlier Thursday. "That's not true. But equally, brands that existed for a long time are not necessarily destined for the dustbin of history."
"You have to innovate. You have to bring new news. You have to bring excitement with your brand," he added.
That philosophy is central to Cahillane's turnaround strategy. Since taking the helm at the start of 2026, he has directed an additional $700 million toward the business and hired 400 employees. He also paused plans to split Kraft Heinz into two companies. At Thursday's investor day, Kraft Heinz projected that it would return to top- and bottom-line growth in the second half of 2027. The company's revenue has declined on an annual basis in back-to-back years, with analysts also projecting a 1% drop in 2026, according to FactSet.