Posting 14% profit increase in a down economy…

With all the economic doom and gloom in the main stream media, let’s take time to celebrate Del Monte Foods’ Third Quarter Earnings report, which boasts a 14% profit increase for the third quarter.

In a Del Monte Foods press release, Richard G. Wolford, Chairman and CEO of Del Monte Foods, said the company’s aggressive focus on cost reduction is a key part of their strategy:

“The work we have done, combined with continued marketing and innovation investment and an ongoing, aggressive focus on cost reduction, position Del Monte to deliver our fiscal 2009 goals and drive shareholder value.”

During the Third Quarter conference call, Wolford provided more details: “We are focused very aggressively as a company on cost reduction programs and that’s key for us and we’ve got a good history of that, and we plan to redouble our efforts there and that’s going to be important for us going forward. Our target is 2% to 3% of costs, and we’d rather see a three handle on it, and so would our operating guys.”

This dovetails nicely with this news story describing how Del Monte’s Milk Bone Division used GainSeeker Suite to drive a 3% improvement in performance across all packing lines.

Congratulations to the entire team at Del Monte.

How does this compare with your 3rd Quarter profitability? Please comment, schedule a conversation, or call us at 800-958-2709.