Will Americans eat chicken curry meatloaf?
Sean Connolly is betting they will. The chief executive officer of Hillshire Brands Co. is trying to take the purveyor of sausage and lunchmeat upmarket — he even wants to appeal to foodies — at a time when shoppers are trading down to store brands or buying ready-to-eat entrees.
The new company, which sells Hillshire Farms meats, Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park Franks, starts trading June 28 — making official its split from Sara Lee Corp. (SLE) (SLE), which is dividing into a U.S. meat business and a global coffee and tea company.
Because Hillshire and the other meat brands were once part of an enterprise selling everything from apparel to cheesecake, “we haven’t had a focused food company, so we haven’t had the innovation we need,” Connolly said in a phone interview. “We see enormous potential for growth. Meat-centric meals is a $68 billion business and we have $3 billion of it.”
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