CHICAGO – The Kraft Heinz Co. has hired advisers to help the company sell its Oscar Mayer processed meat business, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company is seeking a price for Oscar Mayer between $3 billion and $5 billion.

The newspaper went on to note that new Kraft Heinz chief executive officer Carlos Abrams-Rivera is trying to refocus Kraft Heinz’s product portfolio on products that deliver taste and nutrition and improve the performance of the company’s stock price.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2024 ended March 30, Kraft Heinz earned $801 million, equal to 66¢ per share on the common stock, down 4.2% from $836 million, or 68¢ per share, in the previous year’s first quarter. Sales decreased 1.2% to $6.41 billion from $6.49 billion while organic sales were down 0.5%. Pricing had a positive impact of 2.7 percentage points, but volume/mix had a negative impact of 3.2 percentage points.

The company attributed the weak quarterly performance to headwinds from reduced Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program benefits and softness in the company’s away-from-home business.

 Kraft Heinz also is not the only food company seeking to refocus its product portfolio. B&G Foods, Inc., Parsippany, NJ, said it is seeking to divest its frozen and canned vegetable business, and in late April Reuters reported that General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, was exploring the sale of its North America yogurt business.