WOOSTER: The J.M. Smucker Co. had a successful year in a challenging and uncertain economic climate, officers of the Orrville-based food company told its shareholders gathered for its annual meeting on Wednesday.
Shareholders sipped on samples of the company’s Folgers coffee before the meeting and tried drinks from its R.W. Knudsen line after receiving updates on the company’s progress as well as looks at current and upcoming television ads.
Company products include its namesake Smucker jellies and jams, plus Jif, Crisco, Pillsbury and the Eagle Brand.
The company will report its first-quarter earnings on Friday, so officers said they were limited in what financial information they could share at the meeting, held annually at the Fisher Auditorium on Ohio State University’s OARDC campus in Wooster.
The company had another year of record sales and year-over-year earnings per share growth in 2012, despite the economic challenges, said Vince Byrd, president and chief operating officer.
The company launched more than 60 new products across its business, including new flavors for its Folgers Gourmet Selections and Millstone-brand K-cups and new Pillsbury baking mixes and frostings, he said.
“We have a robust innovation pipeline across our brands and expect to launch approximately 100 new items in 2013,” Byrd told the audience.
The company will continue to build its current brands and further capitalize on its recent acquisitions while exploring “additional brand portfolio expansion opportunities in North America and China,” he said.
The Folgers and Millstone K-cup introduction was recognized in the industry as the No. 1 new beverage launch in 2011, said Mark Smucker, president of U.S. retail coffee. Sales were nearly $180 million in fiscal 2012 and it was the most successful new product launch in the company’s history, he said.
The company launched new baking products, including Pillsbury Pink Lemonade cake mix and recently expanded its peanut butter category to include nut spreads, such as chocolate and mocha cappuccino hazelnut spreads, said Paul Smucker Wagstaff, president of U.S. retail consumer foods. Mark Smucker and Paul Smucker Wagstaff are cousins and members of the family’s fifth generation in the business.
The question-and-answer period of the meeting covered the light side of brothers Richard Smucker, CEO, and older brother, Tim Smucker, chairman. In one TV commercial that was aired, a younger Tim is reciting his favorite flavors of Smucker jellies and jams throughout the day, including while Richard is trying to fall asleep.
“It is true that Tim was that annoying at nighttime,” Richard said, while Tim responded by listing some of his favorite flavors into the microphone to chuckles in the audience.
One shareholder asked whether peanut butter with honey would be brought back to shelves. The company is working on it.
Another asked whether the company would consider Folgers drive-through coffee stands. Mark Smucker said the company has considered it, but it is not in its business model. “Impossible, no, unlikely, yes.”
Another question concerned whether the company would promote gluten-free products. Paul Smucker Wagstaff said a few of the fruit spreads are already gluten-free, though they aren’t marketed that way, and the company is working on gluten-free baking products. It is probably two years away, he said.
Several shareholders asked questions about availability of certain Smucker products that aren’t in U.S. retail stores. Company officials said products sold in Canada, for instance, have different labeling and nutrition requirements, and aren’t easy to sell and distribute in the U.S. All of the products can be purchased at the Smucker store in Orrville, or online, they said.
Other business
In the business portion of the meeting, shareholders:
• Re-elected five directors for three-year terms. Re-elected were Paul J. Dolan, chairman and CEO of the Cleveland Indians; Nancy Lopez Knight, founder of Nancy Lopez Golf Co.; Gary A. Oatey, chairman of Oatey Co.; Alex Shumate, North American managing partner of the law firm Squire Sanders, and Tim Smucker.
• Ratified Ernst & Young LLP as the company’s independent accounting firm.
• Approved the advisory vote on the company’s executive compensation.
• Approved a shareholder proposal urging the directors to repeal the classification of the board. The proposal wanted the company to elect all directors at each year’s annual meeting for one-year terms. The company had advised against the proposal, which garnered 60 percent of the votes, and said it would consider the results of the nonbinding proposal.
Another shareholder proposal regarding climate-related risks to its coffee brands was withdrawn before the meeting. In a news release, Trillium Asset Management and Calvert Investments said new initiatives outlined in Smucker’s 2012 corporate responsibility report were “positive first steps” in addressing its concerns.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.