Publications

2015
Dictionary Entry

Consistency of Food Products/Ingredients

By: Ai Hisano

December 2008
Case

Taylor Fresh Foods

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Mary Louise Shelman

In 13 years, Bruce Taylor had built Taylor Fresh Foods into a $1 billion company and the top supplier of salads to the U.S. food service industry and to supermarket deli departments. In 2008, he was convinced that the time was right to make a big push in the fresh food... View Details

Keywords: Food; Brands and Branding; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

14 Nov 2019
News

Making the Food of the Future

Research Summary

The Food Chain

By: David E. Bell

The world's production of food has been keeping pace with the global population, but needs to step up the pace to meet not only the growing Asian population but also their growing consumption per capita. Through case studies, Bell is examining how farming is... View Details

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Hormel Foods

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2019, CEO Jim Snee is weighing how to shape the image of Hormel Foods, one of the largest U.S. meat and food companies, at a time when the industry faces unprecedented scrutiny. Based in the small town of Austin, Minnesota, the nearly 130-year-old firm is best known... View Details

Keywords: Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; China

November 2000
Case

Dean Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell, Ann Leamon and Kim Slack

After 50 years of successful growth, mostly by acquisition, Dean Foods, the nation's second-largest dairy processor, has established a division to develop and market branded products nationally. Can a $4 billion company rely on a $300 million growth vehicle? Is this... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Transition; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Product Development; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

02 Mar 2011
News

Inside Whole Foods

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (E-2): Employment Agreement—Employee Perspective

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

Clubs

Food and Agriculture Club

Keywords: Agribusiness; Manufacturing

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Whole Foods Under Amazon

By: Dennis Campbell, Tatiana Sandino, James Barnett and Christine Snively

In August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods was struggling with high costs and faced growing competition from traditional supermarkets offering more organic products. Prior to the acquisition, Whole Foods began rolling out a new... View Details

Keywords: Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Employee Relationship Management; Acquisition; Change Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

18 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Standardized Color in the Food Industry: The Co-Creation of the Food Coloring Business in the United States, 1870–1940

Keywords: by Ai Hisano; Food & Beverage

16 Sep 2018
News

Food Citizenship In An Age Of Technological Disruption

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

perhaps harder to control for safety. Instead of having three or four sources for a particular ingredient, for example, it might have 30 or 40. “Do those smaller local organic growers have the experience, resources, and commitment to test... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (E-1): Employment Agreement—Employer Perspective

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

February 2019 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (D-2): Credit Agreement—Lender Perspective

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

February 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Pierre Foods Acquisition of Advance Foods (C-2): Stockholders' Agreements—Minority Perspective

By: Guhan Subramanian and Mike Harmon

December 2013
Case

Shuanghui Acquisition of Smithfield Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg

December 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

The World Food Programme during the Global Food Crisis (A)

By: Anette Mikes, Peter Tufano, Eric D. Werker and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Rising food prices threatened an unprecedented number of people around the world with malnutrition or starvation in 2008. The new Executive Director of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP)—the world's largest food relief agency—must not only address this... View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalized Firms and Management; Nutrition; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare

December 1998
Case

MD Foods Amba

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1998, MD Foods, a Denmark-based dairy cooperative, was searching for growth opportunities that would enable it to become northern Europe's preferred retail dairy supplier. The options being considered included expanding in existing markets, entering into new... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Alliances; Innovation and Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; Denmark