1.
2 2
F e b r u a r y
2 0 1 5
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
UCD
Michael
Smurfit
Graduate
School
of
Business
MKT40620:
Corporate
Marketing
Strategy
Student
name:
Mai
Pham
Student
ID:
14201496

2. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
2
Executive summary
This report reviews Greencore’s product portfolio across four major divisions using the Boston Consulting
Group’s growth-share matrix (Aaker & McLoughlin, 2010) It is found that Greencore’s major revenue
driver, its food-to-go segment, is the star of the overall business, while the ready meals and grocery segments
are cash cows which provide a stable inflow of revenue to support the growth of the star business.
Greencore’s US division is currently a question mark, with its high investment and low market penetration,
yet it has strong potential of becoming a star with Greencore’s aggressive investment strategy. This report
chooses to not examine the Ingredients and Property division, as it accounts for only 5% of group revenue.
The report concludes that Greencore is a star overall, with its strong financial performance in the past and
clear strategic focus for the future.
Company overview
Established in 1991 following the privatization of Irish Sugar, Greencore entered the convenience food
manufacturing business in 2001 (Greencore, 2014). It has grown strongly through acquisitions, and by 2014
has become market leading in the majority of convenience food categories. Now Greencore supplies private
label products to major retailers in the UK, including Marks & Spencers, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda,
Waitrose, Spar (Greencore, 2014).
Greencore business consists of 4 major categories: Food-to-go (FTG), Ready meals, Grocery and the US
food-to-go business (see figure 1 for Greencore’s revenue components)
Figure 1:
Greencore achieved positive financial results for 2014, with 7.4% growth in revenue and an operating
margin of 6.5% (see Figure 2)
Figure 2: selected financials
40%
20%
20%
15%
5%
Revenue
breakdown
Food
to
go
Ready
meals
Grocery
US
Business
Ingredients
&
Property

3. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
3
Source: Greencore Annual Report, 2014
The following sections will examine each of Greencore’s product portfolio with reference to the BCG’s
growth-share matrix (see Appendix 1 for detail description of the matrix).
Food-to-go category
Greencore’s FTG product line includes sandwiches, salad and sushi, in which sandwiches account for 79%
of sales (see Appendix 2 for sales breakdown).
Greencore’s decision to focus in the FTG segment is driven by the market’s strong potential for growth. The
UK’s sandwich market is still relatively small at £6 billion, with strong year-on-year growth of 10%, which
makes for a very attractive market option.
Figure 3: UK’s food market, by size and growth rate
Source: Greencore Annual Report, 2014
Greencore’s FTG business has consistently delivered positive growth and outperformed the market in 2014
with growth of 15.3% (see figure 4). Greencore currently dominates the sandwich market with 44% of
market share
Figure 4:
Source: Greencore Annual Report, 2014
A major acquisition took place in 2011 when Greencore acquired competitor food group Uniq in for £113
million. The deal was reported to increase Greencore’s sandwich production volumes by 50% and brought
on board major customers including Marks & Spencer (Kavanagh & Wembridge, 2011).

4. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
4
Figure 5: FTG sales growth following Uniq’s acquisition (Goodbody Research, 2014)
Source: Goodbody research, 2014
Greencore’s FTG is forecasted to grow by 8% annually for the next 4 years (Goodbody Research, 2014),
driven by the strong growth in the number of convenience stores (see Appendix 3), an major investment of
£30 million in its Northampton facility and a £60 million business win from Marks & Spencer.
Figure 6:
Source: Goodbody research, 2014
According to the BCG growth-share matrix, Greencore’s food-to-go segment can be considered the star of
the business portfolio, as this is a high-share, high-growth category, generating substantial revenue while
requiring large investments. Goodbody forecasts that Greencore could see FTG revenue to grow to £1bn
(75% of group revenue) by 2018.
Prepared meals and grocery

5. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
5
Greencore’s prepared meals category includes chilled ready meals, quiche, pasta sauce and soup, while
grocery includes cooking sauces, table sauces, pickles and desserts. Similar to sandwiches, Greencore supply
these products to as private labels to major retailers.
These two categories are market leaders in their respective sectors, which have experienced decline or
modest growth in recent years. In 2013, the prepared meals sector experienced a slight decline (-0.4%) due to
a combination of factors, the most prominent of which was the horsemeat food scare (Price, 2014). The
market was predicted to return to growth of 1.9% in 2014 (Figure 7).
The market for cooking sauces and seasonings has seen consistent decline both in values and volumes
(Figure 8). Value growth in 2014 is estimated to be -2.8%
Figure 7: UK retail value sales of prepared meals, 2008-18
Source: Mintel, 2014
Figure 8: UK retail value and volume sales of table sauces, seasonings, pickles, 2009-19
Source: Mintel, 2014
Reflective of market trends, sales of Greencore’s prepared meals was flat in 2014 (0.2% growth) while sales
of grocery grew slightly by 1.1%. Despite the lack of growth, Greencore’s prepared meals and grocery
businesses still generate significant income (40% in total of group income, approximately £600 million) as
market leaders within their respective segments (see Figure 9 for market share).

6. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
6
Figure 9: Market share of leading categories
Source: Greencore Annual Report, 2014
Thus, it can be seen that both prepared meals and grocery are cash-cow categories in the BCG matrix. They
do not require significant investments as they have established leading positions in flat markets, yet they
generate a stable inflow of revenue to support the high-growth sandwich business.
USA Business
The US’s convenience food market is valued at 36 billion, with positive growth across multiple categories
(Figure 10)
Figure 10
Soure: Greencore Annual Report, 2014
Greencore entered the US market in 2008 through a series of acquisitions across multiple food categories.
Over the years, the company has refined its strategy by focusing on key FTG offerings to cater to the faster-
growing convenience stores and coffee shops channels. Its key customers include Starbucks and 7-Eleven,
who have both experienced strong growth in the US and are therefore key drivers of growth for Greencore
(see Appendix 4).
86%
42%
37%
22%
Private
label
cooking
sauce
Italian
ready
meals
Quiche
Soups

7. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
7
In 2014, Greencore’s US operations achieved a like-for-like growth rate of 15.3% (Figure 11).
Figure 11:
Source: Greencore, 2014
In 2014 Greencore acquired Lettieri’s, a leading manufacturer of frozen convenience food products. The
company is also making major investments in Jacksonville, Rhode Island and West Coast to create its own
geographical footprint across the continent (see Appendix 5). Total investment is estimated at US$85 million
(Goodbody Research, 2014)
For now, Greencore’s US Business can be considered a question mark according the BCG’s growth-share
matrix: the US convenience food market is large with attractive potential for growth, yet Greencore’s US
division currently only accounts for 15% of overall revenue, in comparison with its “star”, the UK’s
sandwich business, which contributes 40%.
The strategy with question marks is either to keep investing to turn them into stars or to divest/exit.
Considering Greencore’s aggressive investment plan, it can be seen that the company is determined to win in
the US market. Analysts are optimist about Greencore’s US prospects. According to forecast by Goodbody,
US sales will continue to enjoy double-digit growth, and US margins will reach group average of 6.6% in
2017 (Figure 12 and 13)
Figure 12

8. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
8
Figure 13
Source: Goodbody research, 2014
Conclusion
The above analysis sheds light on the underlying rationale for Greencore’s overall strategy for 2015. Since
the sandwich category is growing strongly in an attractive market, it is a star which requires substantial
investment in order to stimulate further growth. Thus, Greencore considers sandwich their #1 focus: “To
deepen food-to-go leadership” in order to “deliver attractive returns on capital employed” (Greencore, 2014).
The prepared meals and grocery categories dominate their respective markets and generate stable revenue,
yet limited market growth potentials make them unattractive options for investments. Greencore therefore
keeps them as cash cows, as reflected in their #2 strategy: “to have market leading positions in
complementary convenience food category” with the purpose of supporting relationships with key customers
and providing stable cash flow (Greencore, 2014).
The US’s business is currently a question mark as it operates in a high-growth market yet generating low
revenue and market share, however as the above analysis indicates, it has a strong potential of becoming a
star business, driven by strong overall market growth, Greencore’s aggressive investment plan and solid
customer base. This is reflected in the company’s #3 strategy: “To win in the UK and US markets”
(Greencore, 2014)
This report contends that Greencore is a star overall. The company has performed well despite tough market
conditions, has clear, focused and ambitious strategies for high-growth markets while utilizing revenue from
more stable markets to support them. (Ford, 2014)

9. Mai
Pham
Greencore:
shining
star
or
question
mark?
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Works
Cited
Aaker, D. & McLoughlin, W., 2010. Strategic Market Management: Global Perspectives.
Ford, R., 2014. Table Sauces and Seasonings - UK - December 2014. [Online] Available at:
http://academic.mintel.com/display/679708/?highlight.
Goodbody Research, 2014. Greencore: Bucks the trend. Goodbody Research.
Greencore, 2014. Annual Report & Accounts 2014. [Online] Available at:
http://www.greencore.ie/content.asp?topic=financial_statements&page=313.
Kavanagh, M. & Wembridge, M., 2011. Greencore agrees £113m Uniq takeover. [Online] Available at:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7f0b625a-ac5c-11e0-bac9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3SUATVawI.
Price, A., 2014. Prepared Meals Review - UK - May 2014. [Online] Available at:
http://academic.mintel.com/display/705119/.