Campbell Soup to sell assets to pay debt

CAMDEN, N.J. — Campbell Soup Co. plans to focus on its core snacks and soup business in North America and sell its international business and pay down debt.

The moves announced Thursday follow a review it began in May, when Campbell also announced the retirement of thenCEO Denise Morrison, as it faces changing food trends and potentially costly tariffs on aluminum and steel.

Interim CEO Keith McLoughlin also said the board is still open to evaluating other strategic options for the company.

The planned sales will leave Campbell Soup with brands like Pepperidge Farm and Snyder’s of Hanover, which it acquired earlier this year to help move into a fastergrowing business.

Campbell has been wrestling with declining soup and juice sales in a market crowded with competitors at the same time that many families are seeking foods they consider healthier and less processed. It had been trying to modernize by acquiring brands it said were more in line with changing tastes, such as Bolthouse Farms. But it has now put up that brand for sale as well as manufacturing operations in Indonesia and Malaysia and its business in Hong Kong and Japan.

The company also has faced headwinds due to recent changes in U.S. trade policy that increased costs. Earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross famously held up a can of Campbell’s soup in a CNBC interview to make the case that the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs were “no big deal.”

Campbell has said it expects steel and aluminum costs to rise, pushing its overall costs higher.

The company’s planned divestments are the latest shift in the reconfiguration of the U.S. food industry. As major food makers struggle to increase sales, they’ve come under pressure from investors to boost profits through cost cuts, mergers and acquisitions.