Heinz North America Consumer Products Reviews

Pros

people are very nice most of the time, good brands recognition, good activities, lot's of free food, you'll be proud to say that you work at heinz

Cons

very slow moving projects, paperwork really hinders the development, lots of politics going on, recruitment is a nightmare, lots of project changing, not enough resources to support the product developers

Advice to Senior Management

don't restructure to often, need to invest in assistance for product developers (lab assistant)

Pros

You will get more responsibility and experience working here than in a lot of other companies, often because of how chaotic it can be.

Heinz is truly in the middle of redefining themselves from a "general management" mentality to a "brand marketer" mentality. They're not there yet, but they are trying

Cons

As with all organizational change, there is a significant body-count, and there are definitely different camps / philosophies. As a result, it can be highly political. 10 years ago, it was an opportunistic, short-term oriented company. Today the consumer products division is trying to remake itself a la Pepsico, GMI (standardized brand training, 'marketeer cohesiveness' events, recruiting classes, etc). Lots of folks from Duke. Foodservice is only recently being run by CP people, and they have just started cross-pollinating.

Sales and brand do not have the best relationship, although it depends on the individuals.

A demand planner I worked with at Heinz put it well w/ this analogy: "The organization used to be fat and living an unhealthy life, and now they're hating themselves into being thin".

Advice to Senior Management

I hope Heinz comes out on the other side as a consumer-oriented company, where the shopper truly is the boss. Consider giving sales and marketing common incentives, rather than volume vs. profit.

Pros

-phenomenal on the job mentoring
-managers set their subordinates up for success
-great people/culture

Cons

-technologically behind
-limited marketing resources
-general management focus overshadows good marketing

Advice to Senior Management

Heinz products are amazing. I hadn't tried ANY of them (except Ketchup) prior to working there. Why? Because they are tremendously under-marketed. Invest in marketing.

Pros

Benefits, Home office, Company car

Cons

Less than average pay and bonus structure. Performance review process less than adequate. Little opportunity for advancement.

Advice to Senior Management

Better performance review on field managers is necessary.