August 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case
HBS Case Collection

Planters Nuts

By: Robert J. Dolan and Donald K. Ngwe

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:21

Abstract

In 2012 Planters had about $1 billion in U.S. annual revenues, but had experienced declining unit sales and household penetration over the past six years. The snack nuts category was growing overall, but household spending was shifting away from peanuts, cashews, and mixed nuts—Planters' core business—to almonds and pistachios. A new brand management team for Planters had to develop a plan to reinvigorate the still largest brand in the category, and specifically to decide whether to focus on rebuilding its traditional product categories or on attempting to capitalize on the newer nut categories. Central to this process were questions of segmentation, targeting, and positioning.