Amid reports that poultry magnate Ranjit Singh Boparan was preparing a takeover bid for Bernard Matthews, executive chairman David Joll last week told The Grocer any sale “would be well down the list” of options.
Joll - MD of Bernard Matthews between 1987 and 2005 and brought back last month when the company commissioned PwC to explore its investment options - chose his words carefully, allowing maximum room for manoeuvre pending the outcome of PwC’s review.
The jury is still out on what the future holds for ‘Turkey Towers’ - but in the meantime, what are Joll’s priorities?
A close friend of the late Bernard Matthews, Joll rejoined the business in May after the exit of UK MD Rob Mears in April, chairman David McCall in May, and at the same time as CEO Noel Bartram stepped down for health reasons.
In full fire-fighting mode (50 redundancies were announced when he rejoined), he immediately spoke to all its major retail customers and has since visited most of them, promising a “back to basics” approach.
Joll believes the company needs to re-focus on media support, customer service and innovation. “What we’ve not done is perhaps back the brand as much as we could and should have done,” he contends.
He ought to know what he’s talking about. During his 18-year tenure as MD, Bernard Matthews grew from being “simply an oven-ready turkey producer” to a leading innovator in value-added convenience foods, one that was first to market with products such as Turkey Drummers (1985) and mini kievs (1988).
“We pioneered the value-added product, we have a heritage of innovation and flexibility and willingness to invest capital in our ideas,” he says.
New challengers
Unfortunately, the 21st century has not been as kind. The company faced avian flu in 2007, an all-out assault on its Turkey Twizzlers by Jamie Oliver (leading to the product being discontinued in 2007), and latterly, rocketing feed costs. Its peers have also further encroached on its territory. In 2010, Moy Park moved into turkey with the purchase of O’Kane Poultry, and in May last year Cranberry Foods was acquired by poultry producer Faccenda.
Joll is nevertheless confident the Bernard Matthews brand carries enough respect with retailers to see it through. “Turkey’s a growth area more than any other and we just intend to be more innovative and more efficient,” he says.
He is reluctant to reveal too much about the brand’s future direction, but hints that chicken processing is likely to be a stronger focus as well as added-value and cooked meats.
The company is also likely to make more of its British sourcing, he says. “The focus on buying British at the moment is very much in accordance with what we do with turkeys. You’ll see more of that.”
It’s hard to see how - given its whole range is already made with 100% British turkey and bears the Union Jack - but he promises more news on this in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, the takeover rumours swirl as the company considers its investment options. The hope is that Joll’s experience, intimate knowledge of the Matthews’ turkey empire and his close connections with the family shareholders will steer the company along the right path - at least until a new CEO is found.
He has his work cut out, but remains upbeat. “We’ve had a lot of trust and confidence placed in us over the years by our customers and consumers and we want to show that we’ve not lost that.”
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