Sara Lee Highlights Strategy for Growth at CAGNY's Annual Conference

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.-- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today, Sara Lee Corp.’s (NYSE:SLE) Brenda C. Barnes, chairman and chief executive officer, and CJ Fraleigh, chief operating officer – North America, presented at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference. They reviewed the company’s plans to expand operating margins, drive top-line growth across the business and grow in emerging markets.

“We have taken appropriate pricing actions and have made significant investments in marketing and innovation in the first half of the year,” commented Barnes. “These ongoing commitments to our brands, as well as our achievements in continuous improvement, are expected to benefit top- and bottom-line growth. Fundamentally, we are well positioned to deliver our plan with a very strong second half.”

During the presentation, Fraleigh addressed the increase in commodity costs and what Sara Lee is doing to address this. “Our strong brands are a true asset, especially in this challenging commodities environment,” commented Fraleigh. “We are aggressively monitoring the effect of pricing on consumer behavior and thus far have not seen consumers trading down to lesser brands.”

Presentation Highlights

North America

• Focused attention on two grocery categories – packaged meat and fresh bakery – which are large, profitable categories for retailers that present significant opportunities for Sara Lee.
• Key brands have been instrumental in the growth of North American businesses. The Sara Lee brand is expected to pass $1 billion in sales during the next year and has quadrupled in size over the past four years.

-- Fresh Bakery has decreased its focus on non-branded products in favor of products that carry the Sara Lee brand and has seen an increase in sales over the past three years.

-- Hillshire Farm and Jimmy Dean have received renewed attention in the past two years, resulting in top-line growth of greater than 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

• Mixing out of commodity businesses and into branded and value-added products has resulted in margin improvements.
• A new North American organizational structure, introduced in December 2007, enables efficiencies across the organization.

International

• The strength of Sara Lee’s international brands and innovation have contributed to very positive one-year and three-year growth trends, particularly in the Beverage business.

-- Senseo continues to enjoy double-digit growth after seven years, and leads the single-serve coffee market with a 40-percent share.

-- The out-of-home beverage business is large, growing, and presents a source of excellent margins. As beverage consumption continues to trend more away from home, Sara Lee is well positioned to capitalize on this shift.

• Expansion in emerging markets Brazil, Russia, India and China presents strong growth opportunities.

-- The Beverage business in Brazil is focused on a shift from volume to value. -- In Russia and Eastern Europe, the Beverage and Household and Body Care businesses have seen strong growth. Focus will continue to be to grow market position in instant coffee in Russia, as well as build the insecticide business in that country. -- The enhanced Household and Body Care joint venture with Godrej, one of India's largest consumer products companies, has significantly increased distribution levels and now offers additional Sara Lee products for sale.

Webcast

For people who were unable to listen to the webcast live, Sara Lee’s CAGNY presentation will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Sara Lee corporate Web site approximately two hours after the conclusion of the presentation, and will be available until Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding Sara Lee’s business prospects, costs and operating results, including statements contained under the heading “Guidance.” In addition, from time to time, in oral statements and written reports, the corporation discusses its expectations regarding the corporation’s future performance by making forward-looking statements preceded by terms such as “expects,” “likely” or “believes.” These forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and management’s views and assumptions regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Consequently, the corporation wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause Sara Lee’s actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements are factors relating to:

• Sara Lee’s relationship with its customers, such as (i) a significant change in Sara Lee’s business with any of its major customers, such as Wal-Mart, its largest customer, including changes in the level of inventory these customers maintain; and (ii) credit and other business risks associated with customers operating in a highly competitive retail environment;
• The consumer marketplace, such as (iii) significant competition, including advertising, promotional and price competition, and changes in consumer demand for Sara Lee’s products; (iv) fluctuations in the availability and cost of raw materials, Sara Lee’s ability to increase product prices in response and the impact on Sara Lee’s profitability; (v) the impact of various food safety issues on sales and profitability of Sara Lee products; (vi) inherent risks in the marketplace associated with new product introductions, including uncertainties about trade and consumer acceptance; and (vii) changes in regulations that impose additional requirements on Sara Lee, such as recent requirements regarding the labeling of trans fat content;
• Sara Lee’s international operations, such as (viii) impacts on reported earnings from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly the European euro, given Sara Lee’s significant concentration of business in Western Europe; (ix) Sara Lee’s generation of a high percentage of its revenues from businesses outside the U.S. and costs to remit these foreign earnings into the U.S. to fund Sara Lee’s domestic operations; and (x) Sara Lee’s ability to continue to source production and conduct manufacturing and selling operations in various countries due to changing business conditions, political environments, import quotas and the financial condition of suppliers;
• Previous business decisions, such as (xi) Sara Lee’s ability to generate margin improvement through continuous improvement initiatives and transitioning the entire organization to a common information technology system and the risk that the transition to a common information technology system will be disruptive to the business; (xii) Sara Lee’s ability to achieve planned cash flows from capital expenditures and acquisitions, particularly its worldwide bakery business, and the impact of changing interest rates and the cost of capital on the discounted value of those planned cash flows, which could impact future impairment analyses; (xiii) credit ratings issued by the three major credit rating agencies and the impact these ratings have on Sara Lee’s cost to borrow funds and access to capital/debt markets; (xiv) the settlement of a number of ongoing reviews of Sara Lee’s income tax filing positions in various jurisdictions and inherent uncertainties related to the interpretation of tax regulations in the jurisdictions in which Sara Lee transacts business; (xv) changes in the expense for multi-employer pension plans that Sara Lee participates in; and (xvi) the continued legality of tobacco products in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

In addition, the corporation’s results may also be affected by general factors, such as economic conditions, political developments, interest and inflation rates, accounting standards, taxes and laws and regulations in markets where the corporation competes. We have provided additional information in our Form 10-K for fiscal 2007, which readers are encouraged to review, concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Sara Lee undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sara Lee Corporation

Each and every day, Sara Lee (NYSE:SLE) delights millions of consumers and customers around the world. The company has one of the world's best-loved and leading portfolios with its innovative and trusted food, beverage, household and body care brands, including Ambi Pur, Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Sara Lee, and Senseo. Collectively, these brands generate more than $12 billion in annual net sales covering approximately 200 countries. The Sara Lee community consists of 52,000 employees worldwide. Please visit www.saralee.com for the latest news and in-depth information about Sara Lee and its brands.

Sara Lee Corporation

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