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[Beginning of
Cramer's
verbatim
comments for
this segment...]
Jim:
Memo to Kraft…
that is right,
Kraft Foods (KFT)…
you guys are
making a huge
mistake trying
to buy Cadbury…
come on… we want
food that is
good for you…
not candy that
is bound to be
the target of a
snack pack
someday…
especially given
that the
Bolsheviks have
seized…
especially given
that the
Democrats run
Washington… and
I know the
Politco leader,
Nancy Pelosi…
alright I got to
get this right,
I will get this
right… the
Speaker of the
Peoples Soviet…
the Speaker of
the House would
like to
implement one of
these taxes on
candy… and this
junk… Kraft, and
by extension any
other serious
player in the
food space,
should forget
about candy...
Mergers and
acquisitions are
heating up again…
and I have got one
of the best take
over targets in the
food industry… and
that name is
The Hain Celestial Group,
Inc. (HAIN)…
people want natural
and organic foods…
they want stuff that
is healthy… or at
least seems healthy…
and that is Hain… it
has got numerous
different products
across the whole
spectrum of natural
foods… and personal
care… Celestial
Seasonings Tea, you
know that, right…
Earth Baby Food, I
mean come on… you
are going to feed
them that other
stuff… Tara Chips,
wow General Tso has
got his own line…
culinary oils,
condiments, butter
substitutes… this is
a play on all of the
people who are going
not just vegetarian…
but vegan… and
replacing everything
dairy with soy...
and as sad as that
trend may sound… and
believe me… it is
sad, as a Dad that
struggles to find
anything that my
vegan kids will eat
anymore… we used to
go to Friday’s.
Hain is the future…
past Cadbury… future
Hain… speaking of
past, steak too…
anyway, I want a
shotgun wedding
between Kraft and
Hain… why?… because
as we know from
stocks seer, and
also at one point
deathly too pregnant
singer… am I paper
planes… shotgun
weddings make us
money… when I look
at food companies
there is one purely
and absolutely
anecdotal measure
that I like to use
to measure a
companies
importance.. and do
you know what that
is?… it is called
shelf space… that is
the equivalent in
that business of
horse sense… these
companies are all
involved in a
grueling trench
warfare, fighting
tooth and nail for
inches and feet of
space in the
supermarket to sell
their merchandise…
so what did I do… in
the essence of
empirical and
scientific evidence,
I had my research
team visit two
supermarkets in New
York city last
night… Gristedes and
Whole Foods (WFMI)…
okay, maybe not the
broad spectrum
representation of
where the American
consumer is
shopping… but it
tells us something
about where the
affluent consumer
shops… and therefore
where the rest might
be eventually
heading.
In Gristedes,
Cadbury products
occupy just 2
pathetic feet of
shelf space… and all
of this stuff that
is bad for you… the
snacks and candy…
okay, well maybe
Hall’s is not bad
for you… now you
know something, I
was thinking… if
this was World War
I, this would be
like Luxembourg…
How about Hain?… it
had 52 feet of shelf
space… with products
ranging from west
soy and soy dream,
to earths best
celestial tea, and
bread shop… that
makes Hain a great
power… maybe France,
maybe Germany… when
it comes to the
supermarket wars at
least… the results
at Whole Foods were
even more telling…
Whole Foods
represents the
vanguard of all that
is healthy… it is
organic food
nonsense that is
making people
money.. it is a high
growth grocery
store… and others
are trying to
imitate it, at least
in terms of the
products they carry.
So, how did the
fight for aisle
space look at Whole
Foods… we went to
the Whole Foods in
Union Square… get
this, Cadbury did
not have any shelf
space at all… now,
while Whole Foods
carries natural and
organic foods, and
would therefore not
be a Cadbury
customer… the fact
that such a well
performing chain
like Whole Foods
would leave Cadbury
off the radar
screen… I find it
telling… Hain on the
other hand seemed to
absolutely dominate
the shelves of the
store of the future…
which is even better
than the chef of the
future… here is the
stats… 17 feet of
Celestial tea… 35
feet of Rice Dream
and West Soy… that
is unbelievable… 45
feet for Earth’s
Best… in total Hain
had 220 feet of
shelf space… at one
of the most packed
supermarkets in New
York city… and we
know from the
companies conference
call that it sells
about 40% of Whole
Foods snack foods… a
pretty fabulous
position… have you
had these yet….
Stripes and Blues… I
got a couple of them
off of Long Island
the other day.
Cadbury seems like
the horses cavalry…
Hain is mechanized …
obviously there is
nothing scientific
about this method
what so ever… it is
not representative
even of all of New
York city… let alone
the tri-state area…
but it does help us
to understand that
buying Cadbury… here
is the shelf space
Cadbury… Kraft is
doing… it has got
outdated thinking…
it is buying candy
that rots your
teeth… makes you
fat… and though it
may be a wife’s
tale, gives you
pimples.
If it bought Hain…
it would be buying
itself a huge chunk
of business at
places like the
future Whole Foods…
high end organic
places that are
growing much faster
than the average
supermarket… this is
the future… Kraft is
wrong… Mad Money is
right… so suppose
Kraft’s management
watches the show and
decides to take my
advice… what they
would… or maybe
another acquirer be
willing to pay for
Hain… if we just
used the same
multiple that Kraft
is paying for the
one without shelf
space… Cadbury… if
we slapped the same
11.6 times earnings
before interest,
taxes, depreciation,
and amortization
that Cadbury is
getting on Hain… the
acquisition would
cost $1.3b.. do you
know that is a 38%
premium to Hain’s
current enterprise
value… $17 stock
worth $26 to an
acquirer… better
than a sharp rice
stream in the eye…
that would still be
so much smaller than
Cadbury that Kraft
could buy both… I
would certainly buy
Hain's first… boy
this stuff is so
good I had it in my
coffee the other
day, you could not
tell the difference
between this and
battery acid.
I am not the only
one who thinks this
is a good idea… just
check out
yesterday’s New York
Times… “Despite
Their Prices,
Gourmet Teas Thrive
as Global Economy
Sags”… which of
course I would have
wrote differently… I
would have said
expensive gourmet
teas by Hain but
that is just because
the Times does not
write for your
audience… now there
is more to Hain
celestial simply
than an appealing
take over target…
now you know on Mad
Money we never
speculate on take
over unless the
fundamentals are
strong… wow, the
fundamentals at Hain
are terrific…
despite a tough
environment in its
fiscal fourth
quarter which ended
on June 30th… it
did, it had a tough
environment…
reported on August
25th, Hain is
holding up thanks to
solid execution and
a focus on its core
brands… sales for
the full fiscal year
were up 7%.. okay
10.8% adjusted for
currency.
Hain is focused on
expanding the number
of stores that it
sales too… so
therefore again we
have got the great
growth… it is
selling more to
current customers
too… it is trying to
get, you got it,
more shelf space… it
is aggressively
pushing its tea
business… we know
that right… it has
got new lines of
tea… re-launching
its green tea… while
moving into so
called wellness
teas… Hain has also
got a whole bunch of
new products rolling
out… I mentioned
some of these… and
these are already at
2500 Wal-Marts… and
expansion of its
glutton free
products… you may
not be involved, my
sister has got that
glutton problem… it
is one of the
fastest growing
foods in the organic
channel… given how
many people have
celiac disease and
cannot process
gluten… and Hain
also has a new
Martha Stewart brand
in line of natural
cleaning products
launching this
fall.. I think that
this is going to be
huge… I reiterate
my buy on
Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia (MSO).
The stock is trading
at 14.3 times 2010
earnings… 15% long
term growth rates…
therefore the stock
is underneath the
growth rate… the
growth rate is
underneath the
P/E,
that is perfect… the
big food companies
have roughly similar
multiples but with
half the growth…
half, which means
that I think Hain
can eventually
double on its own…
even without a
takeover bid.
Here is the bottom
line…
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
▼
Jim's
comments AFTER the
interview:
The Hain Celestial Group,
Inc. (HAIN)
is winning its war
for aisle space in
the supermarket… its
organic and natural
products are the
future of food… not
Cadbury’s
potentially
fattening, cavity
creating candies…
Kraft, a company
badly in need of Mad
Money’s health…
should be trying to
buy Hain instead…
and if they don’t, I
would not be
surprised if
somebody else took a
shot at it… that is
why I think that
Hain is a buy, buy,
buy.
[verbatim recap]
[end of segment]
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