Article: Sara Lee officials admit huge hurdles

Investors are growing impatient with Sara Lee Corp.'s three-year- old efforts to reinvent itself.

Last week, executives of the Chicago-based company met with Wall Street analysts and admitted they face high hurdles. But they insisted that Sara Lee is intent upon building national recognition for its highest-margin products, such as Hanes underwear, Jimmy Dean sausages and Kiwi shoe polish. It is a strategy that Kraft Foods Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and other major consumer products companies have used to gain leverage with grocers and retailers.

That didn't stop Romitha Malley, analyst with Goldman Sachs, from suggesting Sara Lee split into three publicly traded businesses:

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