Sugar Foods New CEO Offers Insights Into The Company's Future
In her role as president of Sugar Foods, Andrea Brule was instrumental in guiding the company’s strategic initiatives to expand its product portfolio, develop customer-focused innovations, and execute the company’s growth plan, including both organic and acquisition growth.
Additionally, during her 20-year tenure at Sugar Foods, she led strategy development and execution across its sales channels, product categories, marketing, pricing, and research and development.
Recently, Brule ascended to the role of chief executive officer, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Sugar Foods CEO Marty Wilson who will remain with the company as an advisor. To gain insight into her vision for the future of the company, Store Brands spoke with Brule. She discussed the benefits of the company’s diversification strategy, continued growth in private label, and her top priorities as she takes the CEO spot.
"We’ve been supporters and champions of private label for decades and have witnessed this shift firsthand as retailers continue to look for ways to create differentiation and deliver value to consumers. We will continue to pursue private label opportunities that leverage our expanding capabilities and help our customers execute their strategies."
— Andrea Brule, Sugar Foods
STORE BRANDS: You've been with Sugar Foods since 2004. What are some of the most significant changes you've seen within the company over the past two decades?
ANDREA BRULE: Change is constant at Sugar Foods as we believe it’s part of our DNA to adapt and grow with our customers. The most significant change that I’ve observed throughout my tenure has been the evolution of the category and the diversification of the sector. We’ve gone from having 70% of our business in food service with a heavy concentration in sweetener packets to shipping to virtually every major retailer, distributor, and food service operation, with no one product representing more than 2% of our sales. In fact, in 2023, we celebrated a significant milestone with 1250x servings of Sugar Foods products consumed per second. It’s a relatable metric that speaks not only to our product diversification and reach, but also to the executional performance required in service to our customers. Also notable is what hasn’t changed. Our entrepreneurial culture, continuity of leadership, deep investments in our teams, and unwavering customer-first commitment continue to guide our strategy and outlook.
STORE BRANDS: As CEO, what are your top priorities for Sugar Foods in the short-term and long-term?
BRULE: I have three top priorities. One is a people-first mindset. We want to continue protecting our customer-centric culture and cultivating a safe environment in which our employees can pursue career growth opportunities. The second is operational excellence. We want to ensure that we continue to meet the market’s safety, quality, and service demands every day. Third is innovation. Keeping our pipelines full across sales segments with robust capabilities & fresh innovation is vital.
STORE BRANDS: How do you plan to balance the company's focus on both organic growth and acquisition growth?
BRULE: We have a saying here that we don’t chase numbers, we chase opportunities. We’ve made substantial investments into our base business over the years to prepare for expansion across our core lines (e.g., crunchy toppings, dry mix blends, cheese crisps, and portion packs). Now, there are numerous opportunities at our doorstep that will allow us to tap into our existing capabilities to even better serve our customers. The acquisitions we’re most excited about are those that bring new capabilities into our network and add value for our customers through innovation, order/logistics consolidation, and sales & marketing support. Our recent acquisition of Concord Foods is a great example of this, as it brought differentiated capabilities (that touch every class of trade we service) over to Sugar Foods as part of the transaction.
STORE BRANDS: How do you see the company's product portfolio evolving under your leadership?
BRULE: We’re always evolving our portfolio to add value to new categories where needed. In fact, over the last 20 years, 40% of our sales came from products we weren’t in five years prior. Whether through organic growth, strategic partnerships, or acquisitions, we have continually found new categories and capabilities that can build on our base business and propel our growth in new directions. Looking ahead, we will continue to seek out product opportunities that can add value to our mix and/or remove elements of complexity for our customers.
STORE BRANDS: Sugar Foods serves a variety of sectors including food service, grocery, retail, and restaurants. How do you approach strategy development for such diverse markets? Is there an overlap between each of these segments that proves advantageous for the company?
BRULE: Sugar Foods’ foundation is in food service, and that legacy continues to shape our culture and strategic mindset with service, relationships, and execution at the forefront. Over the past 25 years, we’ve successfully diversified our business to expand into retail, grocery private label, club, C-stores, and industrial markets by carrying over our food service learnings and category leadership mentality to meet the needs of customers across all channels. Though there is certainly some overlap between segments, we do what we can to listen to our customers, better understand their needs, and align our resources to help them achieve their goals. After all, we exist to help our customers sell more salads, more beverages, more pizzas, more fresh produce, and more bundled baskets in store. Our products and brands are a means to an end, and that end is helping drive results for our customers. Insights from each segment better inform our strategies and help keep our finger on the pulse of consumer habits and trends.
STORE BRANDS: The private label sector continues to see strong growth, with more expected in the coming years. How is the company responding to the new opportunities in private label?
BRULE: We’ve been supporters and champions of private label for decades and have witnessed this shift firsthand as retailers continue to look for ways to create differentiation and deliver value to consumers. Our aim is to bring holistic category leadership with insights and product-pack-price architectures that bring new users in and simplify execution/logistics for our customers. We will continue to pursue private label opportunities that leverage our expanding capabilities and help our customers execute their strategies.
STORE BRANDS: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Sugar Foods today, and how do you plan to address these challenges?
BRULE: There is a natural and normal tension between balancing demands of efficiency and stability with flexibility and adaptability. We see this playing out with increased automation, AI, and consumer responses to lingering supply chain disruptions. Our focus will continue to be on maintaining our customer-centric culture and investing in our people while being mindful of this balance in our approach to the market, capital allocation, and innovation.
STORE BRANDS: Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth and expansion?
BRULE: Near term, the intersection of value, convenience, and discovery provides significant opportunity. As part of this, we will continue to strike the right balance between familiarity and uniqueness in private label, prepared foods, flavors, and textures.
STORE BRANDS: What message would you like to send to Sugar Foods’ customers and partners as you step into your new role?
BRULE: Thank you for your business and your partnership. The 1,400 people here at Sugar Foods exist for you – and because of you. We have a lot of exciting things happening with new resources and capabilities to share, and we look forward to continuing to support your goals. Tell us what you need. We’re listening.
