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The Brazilian Investors Who Control Kraft Heinz Are Applying Their Proven Formula to Construct a New Global Food Colossus. What Will They Buy Next?

Fortune, 2017

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Eye Opening
  • Background

Recommendation

Do you remember the Wienermobile – the 27-foot-long, 11-foot-high metal hot dog on wheels that blasts the Oscar Mayer Weiner Jingle as it passes you by? Well, it’s got a new driver: The Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital has taken the wheel and is steering Kraft Heinz in a new direction. Fortune editor Geoff Colvin untangles the complex web of food company acquisitions and pays close attention to the grab-and-slash tactics of 3G. Colvin gives a clear and fair assessment of 3G’s strategy, economic effects, obstacles and future. getAbstract recommends his analysis to global economy enthusiasts, stock market investors and bologna fans.

Summary

In March 2017, foodmaker Kraft Heinz’s Madison, Wisconsin, factory will shut its doors for the last time. The plant once produced Oscar Mayer hots dogs, bacon and ham and employed more than 4,000 workers. The factory is another casualty of a corporate takeover: In 2015, Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway merged their two companies Kraft and Heinz and went straight to work slicing and dicing. First, 3G fired “11 of the top 12 executives in one day,” and then it removed company perks such as free food, company airplanes and sprawling suburban offices...

About the Author

Geoff Colvin is a broadcaster, speaker and Fortune editor.