Customer Stories

Prevedere helps Kraft Heinz enable transformation and growth

Jac Connolly
Senior Economist
Saheb Arora
Head of Global Finance Analytics
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Background

The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) is one of the largest CPG organizations in the world with over $26 billion in annual revenue. They manufacture and sell products worldwide within 80 food and beverage categories, and has a consumer penetration rate of 97% in the US. Forecasting and planning is a critical function, performed on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis by teams around the world. Budgets and resources are constantly re-assessed, based on updated category and platform forecasts.

Kraft Heinz’s challenge

In 2019 KHC observed that consumer behavior in their markets was shifting, even prior to the pandemic. An increase in e-commerce, a desire for greater convenience, more snacking and mini-meals, and a willingness to experiment with taste were driving changes in consumer purchasing behavior. KHC saw an opportunity to reorganize and focus on a new growth strategy. To capitalize on this opportunity, the organization needed better visibility and intelligence around these go-to-market platforms, especially regarding CAGR predictions, in order to optimize forecasts, budgets, and resources. Forecasting platforms, not just categories, was a real challenge.

Prevedere’s Solution

KHC’s planning teams leveraged Prevedere’s Advanced Predictive Planning platform and modeling engine to identify the unique leading indicators for categories and platforms. These indicators are then fed into Prevedere to create predictive AI models that generate monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts and scenarios. Dozens of US and international models are created and refreshed on a monthly basis, for both KHC’s and total market (TAM) performance.

The outcome

After a successful pilot resulting in a much higher degree of forecast accuracy and market visibility, KHC dramatically expanded its number of predictive models. Prevedere forecasting is now used throughout KHC, creating a common platform and starting point for the forecasting process. The organization now has the ability to uncover insights and reveal new and impactful consumer-level drivers. Teams are cutting forecast misses, where a 1% improvement results in millions of dollars of cost savings or revenue growth.

All retailers and CPGs should consider macroeconomic factors to improve their business planning. Not only will forecasting accuracy improve, but go to-market planners will be fully educated as to what external factors are important to their markets.

Bernardo Fiaux   Global Head of Excellence and Capabilities Kraft Heinz Global

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