Today, we presented at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference, otherwise known as CAGNY. We’re hitting our stride as a modern food company, and we took the opportunity to share that story with analysts and investors who cover the food industry. 

Simply put: The demand for protein is growing, and we’re evolving alongside consumers to feed them what they want to eat. During our presentation, WE UNVEILED OUR LATEST INNOVATIONS – and we’re not stopping there. Consumers expect more from food companies today, and we’re up for the challenge. We will exceed their expectations and grow our business. 

Our approach to doing that is what makes me confident in our future. We’re more agile than you’d expect a big company to be! Here’s a peek into the last few lines of my portion of our presentation.

“I’ll leave you with the answer to a question I often get. Where is big CPG going to find growth? The answer is happening at Tyson – right now.

We are activating a suite of growth models. This allows us the flexibility to match the solution to the opportunity and expand our overall growth capacity.  

We build. We buy. We invest. And we partner.

  • We thrive in core categories through well-developed brand building and innovation and apply them in new ways like The Tyson Innovation Lab. 
  • Through M&A like AdvancePierre we buy new capabilities, new brands and create new economies of scale. 
  • Tyson Ventures enables us to invest in early stage growth opportunities.
  • And, we partner with brands and businesses like Tajin that share our values and bring complementary capabilities to the table.

We’ve stopped using old tools to try to solve new problems. This is all about using new ways to solve new problems to innovate faster than the consumer and market changes.”     

Published: Feb 20, 2018.

Author
Group President of Prepared Foods at

Sally Grimes is group president, prepared foods for Tyson Foods, responsible for nearly $10 billion of the company's $40 billion business worldwide. Sally oversees almost half of Tyson Foods’ production facilities, more than 20,000 team members, as well as the company's rapid growth, innovation, insights, R&D, culinary and foodservice teams. Sally is a member of Tyson Foods’ enterprise leadership team and reports to President and CEO Noel White.

Throughout her career, Sally has introduced new brands while spearheading the growth of dozens of iconic brands, from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese to Sharpie. Today, she leads Tyson Foods’ three billion-dollar brands—Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm and Tyson—delivering top and bottom line growth while reshaping the segment for the future of food. Sally’s focus on people’s needs, and her willingness to rethink business and brand models to meet them, has led to a track record of revenue and profit growth.

Sally previously served as president, international and chief global growth officer for the company. She came to Tyson Foods with the acquisition of The Hillshire Brands Company in 2014 where she served as chief innovation officer and president of the Gourmet Food Group. Sally spent more than a decade at Kraft Foods in brand management, and then transitioned to take Sharpie markers from “commodity to community” as she led the digital transformation of the brand as global vice president of marketing at Newell Rubbermaid.

Sally was named Fortune 2018 Most Powerful Women to Watch, Crain’s Chicago Business 2018 Most Powerful Women in Chicago Business, and Fast Company Most Creative People in Business. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and serves on the Board of Directors of the Midtown Educational Association supporting low-income youth. She received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

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