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Article: Sara Lee slicing bread to make more dough Company closing bakeries, ending many regional bread brands
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- March 4, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Sara Lee Corp. will close more bakeries and cease making many of
its regional breads so it can concentrate on its best-known brands.
Three national brands--Sara Lee, Earthgrains and Iron Kids--
generate 37 percent of the company's branded fresh bread sales, while
71 brands drive only 6 percent of the sales, Richard Noll, chief
operating officer of Sara Lee Bakery Group, told financial analysts
at a meeting Monday in New York.
"We've got to change our business model--from a traditional bakery
business to a consumer products business," Noll said. "We have to
have fewer facilities, and fewer regional and local brands."
He said Sara Lee could slash 30 percent of its thousands of fresh