Sara Lee 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

Sara Lee Corporation 3
exited two businesses during the year:
Sauces and Dressings and Direct Store
Delivery Coffee. These dispositions allowed
us to spend more time and capital on our
stronger, more strategic businesses. In North
American Retail, we exited our kosher meats
business which no longer fit our strategy.
Reduce costs, improve efficiency, simplify
Project Accelerate is an aggressive cost
reduction and productivity program that
takes efficiencies to the next level. After
establishing a solid foundation of capabili-
ties over the past few years, we now have
the standardized processes and integrated
IT infrastructure to further reduce our costs
while increasing productivity. We expect
Project Accelerate to be a significant source
of cost savings and process improvement in
the next several years. We also remain fully
committed to our sustainability efforts as
we know doing good, is good business.
Create a high-performance culture We are
focused on building a high-performance cul-
ture at Sara Lee. We recruit talented people
and instill a common mission, vision and
set of values across the organization. While
creating the right culture takes time, we
already are seeing evidence that a stronger,
performance-based culture is translating into
greater strategic alignment and improved
top- and bottom-line results.
Focus resources on core categories and
geographies We continue to manage all
of our resources with one goal in mind – to
deliver the greatest returns for shareholders.
We have strategic plans for each of our
businesses. In some segments, like North
American Fresh Bakery, our focus is primarily
on strengthening margins. In others where
we already have attractive margins, like
International Beverage, our focus is on driving
profitable sales growth. By clearly defining
our opportunities and aligning our resources
appropriately, we can consistently deliver
improved results.
Expand in high-growth, developing markets
Emerging markets offer compelling long-
term prospects for growth. To leverage this
opportunity, we are selectively investing in
geographies, brands and categories that
support our strategic priorities. We made
strategic investments during the past year
in our International Beverage business. In
Brazil, we acquired Café Moka to further
build our position in that market. In Russia,
we are investing behind a line of premium,
freeze-dried instant coffee and have seen
our market share increase.
Exit non-core businesses Sometimes
the best way to improve performance is
to bring greater focus and simplicity to the
business by pruning our portfolio. In our
North American Foodservice segment, we
Use mergers and acquisitions as a tool
We view M&A as a strategic tool to grow
shareholder value. This year, we announced
that we are exploring strategic options for
our International Household and Body Care
segment. While this is an attractive, high-
margin business, we made the decision to
evaluate our options in response to over-
tures made by outside parties. I can assure
you that any action we take will be with
our stockholders’ best interests in mind.
Relentlessly improve North America
I am very pleased by the outstanding
performance we delivered in fiscal 2009
across our three North American segments.
However, we believe the opportunity exists
to drive additional margin improvement in
these businesses.
I would like to acknowledge the hard work
and dedication of our 41,000 employees
worldwide and our board of directors, and
thank our stockholders for their continued
commitment and support.
We hope you agree that now is the right
time for Sara Lee.
Brenda C. Barnes
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
September 1, 2009