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November 1984
Case

Wilson Foods

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

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October 2015
Case

The Maine Food Cluster Project

By: Karen Mills and Aldo Sesia

The Libra Foundation is exploring how to grow the food sector in Maine using the strategy of creating a food cluster initiative. Maine is one of the poorest states in the United States and the food sector is one of the largest employers. Multiple efforts in... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Maine; Vermont; Oregon; Denmark

October 2002 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Codex Alimentarius and Food Labeling

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Codex Alimentarius is a set of international food standards devised by the Codex Commission, a body within the United Nations jointly sponsored by the FAO and WHO. The purpose of the standards is to harmonize global trade in food products and agricultural commodities,... View Details

Keywords: Standards; Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Food; Agribusiness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Globalization; Health; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

July 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Nutra Foods

By: David F. Hawkins

An investor reviews his equity investment and asks for help in understanding how the stock splits and dividends impact his investment and the company's stockholders' equity portion of the balance sheet. View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Management; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Investment Return; Business and Shareholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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May 1982 (Revised April 1984)
Case

Consolidated Foods Corp. (A)

Top management at Consolidated Foods was concerned about consumer complaints and threatened boycotts, some relating to television and print ad content and others relating to sponsorship of television programs thought to portray excessive sex or violence. Describes the... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Marketing Communications; Crisis Management; Advertising

June 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Teaching Note

Hometown Foods

By: Julian De Freitas and Jeremy Yang

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-087. View Details

February 2022
Teaching Note

Stoy Foods

By: John Beshears

Teaching Note for the "Stoy Foods" Exercise (Harvard Business School Exercise 918-044, 918-045, 918-046, and 918-047). View Details

Keywords: Motivation; Framing; Job Design; Family Business

2015
Chapter

Food Additives

By: Ai Hisano

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Danone: Changing the Food System

By: David E. Bell, Federica Gabrieli and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and CEO of the food and beverage company Danone, believed that humankind had only ten years to bend the curve on climate change and restore the biodiversity that the global food and agricultural ecosystem was critically dependent on. Upon... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Nutrition; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Launching the European Food Safety Authority

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

The first food safety commission is established for the European Union. How does it handle food safety, scientific evaluations, and people's attitudes toward scientific changes in food growing and processing--for example, genetically modified organisms? View Details

Keywords: Food; Safety; Nutrition; Policy; Food and Beverage Industry; European Union

19 Jun 2017
News

Amazon Buys Whole Foods

December 1993 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Northern Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry

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April 2020
Supplement

Oaktree: Pierre Foods Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina and Terrence Shu

This case is a setting to discuss “loan to own” investment strategy that is often pursued by distressed investors. The aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis left many companies with poor liquidity and limited ability to obtain credit. One of these companies was Pierre... View Details

Keywords: Distress Investing; Investment; Debt Securities; Strategy; Restructuring

December 2017
Case

Clover Food Lab in 2016

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Sonia Smith and Sandra Bahous

Ayr Muir, founder and CEO of Clover Food Lab, has grown his restaurant chain from a single food truck to 11 thriving stores but he has no interest in running a regional chain. His ambition is to change the way America eats and his goal is national expansion. As he... View Details

Keywords: Restaurant Industry; Food; Growth Management; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Management; Customer Satisfaction; Small Business; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2020
Teaching Note

Danone: Changing the Food System

By: David E. Bell, Federica Gabrieli, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Amy Klopfenstein and Aldo Sesia

Teaching Note for HBS No. 520-053.
This is a teaching note for the case “Danone: Changing the Food System?” The case examines the efforts of one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies to resolve the social, environmental, and economic issues within... View Details

Keywords: Food; Goods and Commodities; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; France; Paris

February 2018
Case

Whole Foods and JANA Partners

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In 2017, JANA Partners decided to launch an activist campaign at struggling supermarket chain Whole Foods Market. The company had struggled for the past several years, and JANA thought the presence of new directors could help turn around its operations, while Whole... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; United States

October 2012
Case

Hill Country Snack Foods Co.

By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson

Hill Country Snack Foods, located in Austin, Texas, manufactures, markets, and distributes snack foods and frozen treats. The CEO is passionate about maximizing shareholder value and believes in keeping tight control over costs and operating the business as efficiently... View Details

Keywords: United States; Financial Strategy; Debt Management; Retail Trade; Risk Management; Food; Capital Structure; Corporate Finance; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas