1. J.M. Smucker's corporate strategy is to grow its existing brands, introduce new products, and make strategic acquisitions. These three goals are focused on the North American market. Across its brands, Smucker’s aims to be the number one product in every product line in which they compete. The company expanded beyond jams, and jellies to protect it from becoming an acquisition of a larger firm. By expanding, Smucker’s has made itself less likely to necessitate selling off the brand by increasing both cash flow and size. The company has been very successful so far in expanding purchasing number one brands and increasing both revenues and profits by large margins along with an increase in stock price. Smucker’s decision to expand the business has been a successful one.
2. Smucker’s list of acquisitions and brands reads off like an all-star team, Pillsbury, Smucker’s, Jif, Folgers, Dunkin Donuts, Hungry Jack, Crisco… Smucker’s has been careful to purchase only well established and successful brands and focused on leading brand names. The company decided it is better to acquire already established brands than to build a new brand from scratch. Smucker’s brands are positioned as the leading brands in many of the processed foods segments in which they compete. Folgers is the leading coffee (with Dunkin Donuts on its heels), Crisco is the leading cooking oil, Smucker’s leads in fruit spreads, Knudsen leads in health and natural beverages, and Jif leads in peanut butter. 3. Smucker’s has been focused on center of the store products and wishes to be number one in each of the categories in which it competes. With that strategy as a seller of processed foods, the company has done well to expand and grow its product lines and increase its presence in supermarkets in North America. Peanut butter goes with jams like peanut butter and jelly, cooking oil is used with baking mixes, Folgers coffee is a good way to expand from the breakfast table (where jam is served) to the workplace, and syrups and topping complement pancake and waffle mixes. Value chain match ups which should give Smucker’s cost savings include peanut butter and oils, Fruit spreads and fruit toppings, syrups and juices, baking mixes and frostings with flour and baking ingredients.
Smucker’s as a food processor can also benefit by giving its food processing experience to newly acquired business units and vice versa. Processing techniques, packaging and shipping savings, consolidation of operations to fewer locations, combined shipments and storage of products all of these offer savings along with economies of scale which gives Smucker’s bargaining power with suppliers and supermarkets.

4. Smucker’s lineup of businesses offers a good financial fit. The company’s segmented profit statement from their 10-K 2010 states that all segments are generating growing profits. It appears that all of Smucker’s segments are cash cows generating cash flows over and above its internal requirements. The company has divested operations and brands that have not fit its corporate strategy or did not generate a large enough profit such as Mrs. Smith’s pies, Brazilian and Australian jams and jellies, and industrial ingredients businesses.
Smucker’s business segments make a good financial fit because they generate enough excess cash to invest in securing and investing in promising acquisitions and create opportunity for investment in current operations. The company has been increasing its profit and cash flows through successful acquisitions of popular businesses and with the advantages gained through combining technology, operations, marketing, and distribution Smucker’s has been able to invest in the underperforming operations or merge them with another business unit to make them more profitable.

5. Smucker’s strategic actions should include: * Use the money generated through the cash cows of the business to invest in new acquisitions and new and retooled factories. * Close underperforming or outdated facilities and whenever possible combine production lines to make better use of economies of scale and to save on facilities operations costs. * Continue to search out and purchase high quality brands that are for sale that can add immediate value to the company’s bottom line.
Invest in R&D of new products that can be offered that are healthy or natural to take advantage of health conscious consumers. * Continue to merge product lines and operations to find cost savings across different product offerings and brands. Reduce redundant operations and corporate waste. * Expand operations where conditions are favorable and take advantage of low borrowing costs. * Protect the credit rating of the firm to make for more profitable future lending.