Background: Kraft Heinz was formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz. That brought together brands like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Oreo, alongside Heinz Ketchup and baked beans. After nearly a decade together, the company announced plans last year to split in two.

What happened: The idea was to carve out the higher-performing sauces and condiments, such as Heinz Ketchup, from slower grocery staples like Kraft Singles. But since announcing the demerger, grocery sales have deteriorated further. So now, the new Kraft Heinz CEO has now paused the breakup plan.

What else: Instead of splitting the business, Kraft Heinz will invest $600 million into marketing, sales and R&D to revive growth in its weaker grocery brands. The strategy has shifted from separation to turnaround, with management trying to strengthen the whole group before reconsidering any split.

What's the key learning

💡A turnaround strategy is what companies deploy when performance has deteriorated and growth has stalled. It typically involves cutting costs, repositioning brands or investing to reignite growth.

💡Breakups work best when both divisions are healthy. For example, BHP spun off South32 in 2015 because it was a non-core asset - but it  has managed to thrive on its own. In fact, its market value is up over 100% since then.

💡But spinning off a weak unit can isolate the problem rather than solve it - so the new CEO is choosing to invest millions to rebuild the struggling grocery brand first so that it avoids creating one strong company and one long-term underperformer if a split happens later.