Biz Briefs: Food: Can Granola Grow Up?

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What accounts for his unshakable optimism? For one thing, at major food firms niche brands are "only a small percentage of a much larger organization" and often get neglected, says Hain's new executive vice president, John Carroll. More important, the Kelloggs and Krafts of the world won't necessarily be able to translate their household names into success in the natural arena. It's no coincidence that you will almost never find the well-known parent company listed anywhere on the packages of their New Age offerings. "There is a credibility gap with these [brand name] companies as they try to represent themselves as healthy brands," says Steve Demos, founder of White Wave and creator of Silk. In fact, Simon argues that Hain can benefit from other companies' marketing campaigns. "We have great products, but our industry needs to do a better job of telling its story," says Simon, who was fired after a short stint at Slim-Fast Foods Co. in the early '90s for his outspoken views on the company's single-minded approach to diet. "Hain alone can't educate consumers about eating healthy. They will help us get our fair share."

Still, Simon, a father of four young children whose weekly family grocery shopping doubles as a market-research field trip, doesn't take anything for granted. "We're like a little speedboat circling around an ocean liner, so we have to be more innovative," he says. In the past year, Hain has joined forces with two U.S. institutions--providing its Yves veggie burgers as part of the McVeggie at select McDonald's locations and working with Sesame Street on co-branded Earth's Best products. Earth's Best baby food is seen as a key to the company's success for its ability to draw in mainstream shoppers willing to pay a premium for organic food for their little ones.

A serial dealmaker, Simon is just starting to focus more attention on his company's organic growth. Only a few months ago, Hain finally hired an in-house vice president of investor relations. (Hain's share price has always got a bit of a boost because of a widely held perception on Wall Street that Heinz, which owns about 16% of Hain in a fairly hands-off role, may eventually take it over entirely.) And Simon has handed off much of the day-to-day management duties to a coterie of seasoned, mass-market-foods veterans, most notably Carroll, formerly head of frozen foods at Heinz. Carroll's mandate: to cut costs, scale down Hain's dizzying array of products--almost 2,000--and perhaps shed some of its less important brands.

Ideally, that should leave more time for Simon to do what he does best--rally the troops and plot strategy. "Irwin has an uncanny ability to get people to charge the mountain for him," says Beth Bronner, senior vice president of marketing at Jim Beam Brands and a longtime Hain Celestial board member. After an earnings disappointment last fall, Simon gathered about 150 employees at his Long Island, N.Y., headquarters for an inspirational screening of Miracle, the feel-good film about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's improbable gold-medal victory. Now he has to hope that Hain, and the budding industry it commands, can likewise reach its full potential.