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Article: Half baked? The loaf hasn't fully risen yet on Sara Lee's Earthgrains deal.(Company Profile)
- Article from:
- Food Processing
- Article date:
- January 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Putman Media, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nobody doesn't love the idea of Sara Lee securing its future by acquiring a national direct-store delivery system through its acquisition of Earthgrains Co. last year. But the jury is still out on whether the deal will hit the lofty targets set by the Chicago-based conglomerate.
The trouble isn't lack of trying, analysts say. Less than a year after announcing the deal, Sara Lee had launched Ironkids Crustless Bread and expanded its flagship brand into the fresh bread aisle with one of the category's biggest rollouts ever. The problem has been a combination of rising raw material costs and a slow economy that has boosted the fortune of private-label competition ...