Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Mondelez CEO: The Future of Food Features Plenty of Snacks

Mondelez CEO: The Future of Food Features Plenty of Snacks

The food industry is being tested by shifting consumer tastes, new technology and global trade disputes. Those are among the issues on the agenda Monday at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum, which includes some of the sector’s key players.

Including the chief executive of Mondelez International Inc., MDLZ -1.00% the president of McDonald’s U.S.A. and leaders from the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration.


Healthier Snacks Growing Faster: Mondelez CEO


The market for healthier snacks currently is growing globally about 6% to 7% annually, Mondelez CEO Dirk van de Put said. That is faster than the 4% to 5% growth among indulgent snacks, which still make up 80% of the market, he added.

Globally, consumers are snacking more, creating opportunities for Mondelez International, said Mr. Van de Put. Today, people are eating 2.5 snacks each day, up from two a day just a few years ago. Busier lifestyles are supporting the trend, he said.

Food makers have to distinguish between trends and behavior, said Mr. Van de Put. While consumers claim they want healthier products, they are still buying indulgent items. “There’s a difference between what people say and what they do,” he said.

Mr. Van de Put also said there is no reason for Mondelez and Kraft Heinz Co. to re-merge. Mondelez International was formed after splitting with the predecessor of the latter firm. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to put that back together,” Mr. Van de Put said. He said Mondelez wants to stay focused on its core snacking categories.

He added that the snack giant is trying to move faster to bring products to market by testing out new items in a few markets and building from there. One downside with the approach is it simply takes longer to scale products up amid the challenge of predicting consumer behavior.

The company has had misses with product development, he said, pointing to a high-fiber biscuit that took three years to create and didn’t do well after lots of people weighed in. “We ended up with a camel designed by committee,” he said.


Milk: Got Competition?


National Milk Producers Federation CEO Jim Mulhern said that plant-based beverages, which have been getting a lot of attention, will continue to grow, but a bigger hit to the dairy industry over time has been bottled water. Decades ago, it wasn’t normal consumer behavior to buy a plastic bottle of water, he said, but that is a commonplace purchase now.

He added that the battle for supermarket shelf space between traditional cow’s milk and almond, soy and other plant-based milk rivals may turn in part on dollars. While plant-based milks make up anywhere from 8% to 13% of the overall market, Mr. Mulhern said the “dirty little secret” of the alternative products is that “they pay for that footprint,” via stocking fees that secure preferred placement in dairy sections.

Jessica Almy, policy director for the Good Food Institute, which promotes plant-based products, said plenty of traditional dairy brands similarly pay for grocery store space.


More Automation Is Coming to Farms

A global population shift from rural areas to cities is making it difficult for farmers to find workers, and pushing them toward automation, said John Stone, a senior vice president at Deere DE -0.23% & Co., which makes farm equipment. “The labor is already gone,” he said. “The machines have to get smarter.” Last fall, Deere started offering a new combine harvester that can analyze grain quality as it comes into the machine, he said.

Deere processes mounds of data from farmers, Mr. Stone said. The company collects that data via a cloud-based platform, analyzes it and pushes it back out to customers so they can use it in their enterprises, he said. One challenge for the company, however, is gaps in broadband coverage in rural areas.

Abundant Robotics Inc. is creating the first combines to harvest tree fruit, an area of agriculture that hasn’t been automated to date and is worth billions, said the company’s CEO, Dan Steere. “It’s never been possible before,” he said.

The debate about the impact automation has on jobs and employment can be contentious. But Mr. Steere said deploying such tech on farms “prevents food costs from rising dramatically.”



Closing a Food Gap


Lower-income communities often have less access to healthy food, and the role that can play in causing obesity and other health issues is the target of research at the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut, said Indrajeet Chaubey, dean of the college.

“There’s no one magic bullet,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the WSJ Global Food Forum. Mr. Chaubey said UConn’s research is focusing on how to alleviate these problems in the local community around Hartford, Conn.


Crop Prices Force Change


Low crop prices this year are pushing farmers to fundamentally change their point of view in order to survive in a tough agriculture economy. “Low commodity prices are causing farmers to think outside of the way that they normally think,” said Sanjeev Krishnan, chief investment officer and managing director of S2G Ventures, which invests in food and agriculture.

Because farming is a high volume market with low profitability, the thinking must change to view business in terms of profitability per acre instead of yield, said Mr. Krishnan.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×