By Clare O’Connor, Forbes Staff
It’s as cold as a meat locker inside the lab-like BluePrint juice factory in an industrial slice of Queens, N.Y., and the air smells of lemon zest. As a worker in a white coat and Wellingtons stirs a barrel filled with 55 gallons of moss-colored sludge, Irwin Simon, CEO of BluePrint’s owner, Hain Celestial, looks on admiringly. “Liquid gold,” he says. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Brendan Byrnes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The following video segment is part of a full interview in which The Motley Fool’s Brendan Byrnes sits down with Irwin Simon, the founder and CEO of Hain Celestial , to take a closer look at the better-for-you food revolution. In this segment, they discuss how the continual influx of new products, acquisitions, and marketing strategies could further the current success of this natural-foods company.
A transcript follows the video.
The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
Brendan Byrnes: Now, Hain Celestial has been recommended by our Stock Advisor service, along with Supernova, so we have a lot of investors, I think, that are invested in Hain Celestial. What are some things that they need to watch in 2013? Maybe some milestones or big events coming up?
Irwin Simon: So I think, coming back to 2013, No. 1 is just our growth and our distribution and our products. We introduced a lot of new products. We introduce worldwide over $80 million a year in new products. We have a big natural-foods show in Anaheim in March, when there are just a lot of new products in, so that’s No. 1.
No. 2 is we’ve done some great acquisitions in the U.K. We’re just overlapping a year today of owning [Daniels Group] and great growth on New Covent Garden soups, Johnson’s Juice, Farmhouse Fare. At the end of October, we closed on the Premier Foods deal and are really getting a lot of new products, new distribution over there and getting some scale in the U.K.
Also in the U.K., I was there last week. We just launched Greek Gods Yogurt. In the U.K. we’ll launch, the end of June, we’ll launch a whole line of gluten-free products in the U.K. We’re going to take over and really focus on our non-dairy business in the U.K. We’re in the midst of opening up a new non-dairy facility outside Cologne, Germany, that will give us capacity within the U.K., so within the U.K. and throughout Europe.
Our European business is really growing. Danival, which we bought last year, expanding that throughout Europe. Actually we’re bringing Danival into the U.S. We’re going to introduce Sensible Portions, which is our snack business in the U.K. and Europe, and really expand upon that. Our European group will expand upon our soup business, our New Convent Garden, and some of the Premier. So that’s what we’re looking forward to in the U.K.
Byrnes: You sound like a busy man.
Simon: Europe, and the U.S., so let’s just come back from the U.S. Expansion here continues with our Greek Gods yogurt growth. We’re introducing our kefir product, which we’re pretty excited about that. We’ve got a
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/14/hain-celestial-is-focused-on-their-balance-sheet-w/
By Brendan Byrnes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
The following video segment is part of a full interview, in which The Motley Fool’s Brendan Byrnes sits down with Irwin Simon, the founder and CEO of Hain Celestial , to take a closer look at the better-for-you food revolution. In this segment, they discuss how the global market for organic food products continues to grow despite the current world economy.
A transcript follows the video.
The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
Brendan Byrnes: How often do you worry about things that are kind of out of your control, say the macro economy? Some think that natural, organic foods may be a little bit more expensive than your cheaper, just off-the-shelf processed foods — maybe in a bad economy, which we’re seeing now especially in Europe, you see customers potentially run from them. But Hain continues to do well, so how much does the macro economy worry you, and how much are you kind of insulated to that based on your brands?
Irwin Simon: So, number one, I always try and deal with things that I’ve got some control over, unless I run for the president of the United States, and I wasn’t born in — I was born in Canada. I am a U.S. citizen now. That’s what I cannot have control over. So I don’t worry about that. and I come back and say this — here, listen, in 2008, 2009, we lived through some tough times, and we saw where consumers ran to the other side and were buying private label or buying protein that was conventional chicken, or buying not natural and organic.
When the economy did improve in 2010, we really saw consumers come back. But you know what’s happening out there today, there is just so much information continuously coming out about how eating healthy, how important it is, how it’s not a fad, how it’s not a trend, what process …
Byrnes: Do you think customers are more willing to pay up?
Simon: Absolutely. And you know what? It’s not paying up that much. It’s 10, 15%. I was watching today, and I guess there’s in The Wall Street Journal today, or over the weekend, it was about eating out of the home. We’re eating so much more at home today, and there’s so much information that comes out why it’s important to eat at home as a family and what it does for families, and if you have one or two meals at home where your children will not have drug problems or alcohol problems and that. Cooking at home is so much more convenient and cheaper than that, if you’re able to do it.
Buying natural, organic foods today —
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/13/irwin-simon-believes-his-consumers-are-smart/
By Brendan Byrnes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Irwin Simon, the founder and CEO of Hain Celestial , discusses the international opportunities for organic foods with Motley Fool analyst Brendan Byrnes.
Irwin says he’s spent a lot of time in the U.K. Retailers there have come to Hain and told the company that they are five years behind the U.S. in healthy foods. On the other hand, in the U.K., 50% of the foods sold are fresh. That’s not the case here in America, Irwin says.
Still, obesity rates in the U.K. are the second highest in the world. Consumers there don’t necessarily want organic foods, but they do want natural foods and foods that are unprocessed, Irwin says.
In the U.K., they are learning some of the same lessons about self-inflicted health problems as we’ve been learning here. As healthier foods find their way onto more supermarket shelves across Europe, Hain has a big opportunity, Irwin says.
More great advice from the Motley Fool!
Our chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
The article Big Opportunities to Become Smaller, Healthier People in the U.K. and Beyond originally appeared on Fool.com.
Brendan Byrnes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Hain Celestial. The Motley Fool owns shares of Hain Celestial. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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By Brendan Byrnes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Irwin Simon, the founder and CEO of Hain Celestial , discusses the emerging Asian market and where the growth opportunities lie in this key area with Motley Fool analyst Brendan Byrnes.
More great advice from the Motley Fool!The Motley Fool‘s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for this year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
Brendan Byrnes: How about Asia? It’s such a different culture in Asia. How do you see the whole natural, healthy foods phenomenon translating to Asia? Do you see that happening?
Irwin Simon: Big time, and we have a joint venture with Hutchison Whampoa, one of the largest retailers in Asia today, and big in telecom. It’s really interesting, Asia. First entry to organic in Asia is in organic baby formula and baby food, which is the same here. And actually, what I’ve seen in Asia, and we’ve done a great job in Hong Kong — we have a 10% share within the last couple years. What I see in Asia, instead Asians used to give gifts of alcohol as presents; now they’re giving organic foods as gifts.
So, there is the awareness, and the younger consumer today is much more educated. I have a 17-year-old daughter. She is so educated today, and yes, she lives in my household, so you’d have to be. But her friends are being vegetarians, and not eating meat and just healthy products, and that doesn’t mean they’re not eating a chocolate bar or eating a doughnut, but they’re focused on going to spinning class, going to yoga, eating healthy. And they’re the moms and dads of the future that will keep our industry and a lot of the health and wellness industry going.
The article Organic Baby Foods Leading the Health Food Charge in Asia originally appeared on Fool.com.
Brendan Byrnes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Hain Celestial. The Motley Fool owns shares of Hain Celestial. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you’d like to add some small-cap stocks to your portfolio, the SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.
The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The SPDR ETF‘s expense ratio — its annual fee — is a very low 0.20%. The fund is a bit on the small side, too, so if you’re thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in.
This ETF has performed well, handily beating the S&P 500 over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can’t expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.
Why small caps?
It’s common, and reasonable, to invest in lots of large-cap companies, as they’ve typically proven themselves enough to grow large, and tend to have some competitive strengths. But it’s also smart to include smaller companies in your portfolio, as the best of them can grow rapidly and eventually become large caps.
More than a handful of tiny growers had strong performances over the past year. 3D Systems , for example, surged 110%, but it’s been a bumpy ride for investors. Its last earnings report featured big double-digit growth rates, but that wasn’t enough for some, who expect huge things from the 3-D printing industry – including even health-care-related printing (new body parts, anyone?).
Hain Celestial popped 34%, rewarding my socially conscious colleague Alyce Lomax, who added it to her portfolio. The organic food maker is expanding into the promising “Big Yogurt” market via an acquisition, and its acquisitions have been performing well.
Align Technology gained 23%. It’s behind the fairly well-known Invisalign dental aligner, as well as various CAD/CAM software, and its last earnings report was strong, featuring revenue up 11%. It beat analyst expectations, as well. Analysts at Zacks upgraded the stock recently.
Other companies didn’t do quite as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Cubist Pharmaceuticals , for instance, gained 8%. Its 2012 revenue gained 23% over 2011, and EPS surged 304%. It has several products on the market, and several more nearing the end of clinical trials. It has also acquired the right to buy in-development pain medication Adynxx, as well as global rights to an antibiotic candidate.
The big picture
A well-chosen ETF can grant you instant diversification across any industry or group of companies — and make investing in and profiting from it that much easier.
With the European …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
