Life not so sweet for Cadbury’s owner Mondelez as its growth target is slashed
Cadbury’s owner Mondelez yesterday cut its 2014 sales target, after price hikes to cover commodity costs sparked a backlash by consumers and retailers in some European markets.
The company said it was reducing its 2014 net organic revenue growth target to a range of two per cent to 2.5 per cent. In May, it forecast growth of about three per cent.
It said higher cocoa and dairy prices this year prompted the retail price rises to customers.
Since competitors had been slow to follow, the company said, some retailers had stopped selling Mondelez products altogether.
“While we anticipated that this would be disruptive in the short term, it has been even more challenging than we expected,” said Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer.