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Heinz around the world: On every inhabited continent of the globe, dedicated and creative Heinz employees make and market products renowned for their quality, value and wholesome goodness. The world's largest tomato processor, Heinz also sells more tuna than any other company. With state-of-the-art factories throughout the world, the company supplies more than 4,000 varieties to a growing number of loyal consumers. The allure of Heinz brands transcends borders, cultures and climates, as nearly half of the company's sales are recorded outside the U.S.
New Zealander Tony Dallimore discusses growth opportunities with Heinz Japan's Takako Niwa.
 "My whole working life I've been making things happen," says Tony Dallimore, a native New Zealander and 30-year veteran of Wattie's, the dominant food brand and processor in New Zealand for half a century. As new business development manager, Dallimore frequently travels abroad and, in general, keeps up with new ideas and changes - be they manufacturing processes or packaging systems. "We keep ourselves right up to the cutting edge," he notes. He regularly meets to review market opportunities with Takako Niwa and others at Heinz Japan. The 1992 purchase of Wattie's by Heinz expanded his horizons. "Heinz brought an accelerated ability to take advantage of new markets. I really get a kick out of that," he notes. Strategically, Wattie's focuses on creating new export products for the Asia/Pacific market. Since 1992, it has participated in a wide variety of ventures with Heinz Japan. In 1996, for example, both companies jointly invested in a new production facility in Tomoana, New Zealand. The marriage is creating a uniquely profitable partnership. The Tomoana facility will soon be able to produce frozen and shelf-stable vegetable, meat and dairy-based pouch products. The Japanese market alone, with 124 million consumers, is enormous. Wattie's target is to double activity with Heinz Japan by the year 2000. Dallimore continues to look forward to "making it happen." Michael Weber tastes the possibilities for marketing Heinz ketchup in Germany.Michael Weber admits that, as a student, his worst subject was foreign languages. Yet, this young German executive has become remarkably fluent in English since joining Heinz just 18 months ago. His secret? "Learning by doing," says Weber, "especially during the last nine months when I was obliged to talk to my Dutch boss only in English."Having conquered one challenge, he is looking forward to the next as brand development manager. "What I enjoy most is that we have a superbrand, Heinz ketchup, with a bit of a cult status. Now, the challenge is to double our market share," he says. Today, Germany represents about 30% of total European ketchup sales. With a new marketing strategy and distribution system, Heinz is committed to moving its brand to the top spot in the country. Heinz ketchup already enjoys high brand loyalty and brand awareness among German consumers. "We have gold in our hand," says Weber, whose team will now focus on improving trade distribution and updating the brand's image with a contemporary advertising and marketing campaign. "I have learned a lot," says Weber, "especially, how to think in a strategic manner about marketing issues and... oh yes, don't forget the financials." Sounds like he's well on his way towards getting an A+ in Heinz English. In New Delhi, Dr. C.N. Kuchroo creates nutritious foods and drinks for a growing marketplace.
 As a young chemist working on his Ph.D. in India, Dr. C. N. Kuchroo played a significant role in developing infant foods that were nutritionally superior to products then available. He has never strayed far from infant nutrition, having pursued a post-doctoral fellowship in food science from University College, Cork, Ireland. Today, Kuchroo's experience is a unique asset. "I was a chemist who became a technologist, who became a quality assurance man and, finally, general manager- production at Heinz India's Aligarh plant," he says. h Heinz is leveraging its expertise around the world in rapidly growing countries, such as India, where 26 million babies are born each year and infant feeding is a fast-growing $50-million category. Since acquiring the Farex line of infant cereals in 1994, Heinz has expanded the brand more than 50% in volume and 70% in value, reaching consumers through television and radio advertising. The future looks even more promising. Notes Kuchroo, "We want to bring our entire baby food product range into India under the Farex brand name." Heinz is ready to relaunch, expand and fortify its rice and wheat cereals to combat documented vitamin A, iron and iodine deficiencies within India's infant population. In 1997, The Farex Nutrition Foundation will sponsor nutrition symposia and step up work with pediatricians, new mothers and medical authorities. From Buenos Aires, Mary Hume gets a first-hand look at South America's dynamic pet food business.Two years ago, marketing executive Mary Hume, American born and educated, left a major U.S. multinational in Buenos Aires to join Alimentos Pilar, Argentina's third- largest pet food and animal feed producer."I knew the pet food market would explode and I wanted to be part of that future," says Hume, now head of marketing. So did Heinz Pet Products, which, in 1996, seeking its first strategic beachhead in Latin America's high-growth markets, acquired the company. Since then, change has been dramatic within Alimentos Pilar. Four months after Heinz acquired the company, it launched local production and marketing of 9-Lives brand cat food and Award brand dog food. "The pet food market here has been rapidly growing at between 15 to 20% a year," Hume says. Consumers purchase pet food from supermarkets (the fastest-growing segment), pet shops, veterinarians and feed stores. "It's still a highly agricultural economy," notes Hume, "which is why feed stores still account for half of all sales." h Alimentos Pilar has enjoyed an outstanding year, thanks to Hume and her co-workers, including veterinary expert Dr. Carlos Crosetti and plant manager Ramón Montefinale. Pet food sales are up 40% versus a year ago. Encouraged, Heinz Pet Products, with more than $1 billion in global sales, recently acquired a pet food company in Venezuela and is continuing to seek other high-growth, high-opportunity markets around the world. Alfredo Archilla talks about bolstering tuna production in Puerto Rico."It never occurred to me that one day I would be working in my hometown at Star-Kist Caribe," says Alfredo Archilla, a civil engineer who, in 1987, returned to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Today, as general manager, he is in command of the immense Star-Kist plant, which employs about 4,000. Star-Kist Caribe is the city's largest employer and the biggest tuna cannery in the world. It processes 650 to 700 tons of fish a day.Archilla has been in charge of implementing a procession of new ideas, processes and equipment. In 1995, Star-Kist Caribe improvements included Project Quantum Leap, a significant expansion of the Mayaguez facility that transformed it into a high-volume, low-cost plant. (Volumes have risen from about 50,000 cases a day to 70,000.) It was accompanied by Project ITO, a computerized model which changed production planning from an art into a science. h The latest effort has been Project Blue Star, a revolutionary, mechanized fish-processing line that reduces processing time by two-thirds, thus enhancing product taste and quality. Employees are so proud to work on the Blue Star line that they designed a Blue Star logo to wear throughout the plant. "The last 10 years have brought dramatic changes to the way Star-Kist does business and it's paid off," says Archilla. "It's the only way we could have survived the tough competition. And we're still ahead of the game." Sarah Watson shops London for fresh ways to make Weight Watchers a greater success.Eleven years ago "on a wet Tuesday afternoon" in Camberly, 60 miles south of London, Sarah Watson took her two small children on a walk that ultimately changed her life. She met another mother on the stroll who declined Watson's invitation to tea because she was planning to attend a Weight Watchers meeting. The following week, Watson accompanied her friend to a meeting, "basically to get out of the house." In the short run, Watson lost 42 pounds; in the long run, she found a career, moving from member to leader and on to her present position, head of training and program development.
Last year, with Weight Watchers under mounting competitive pressure, Watson created the 1
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