Humpty Dumpty is back together again and doing just fine. The Kitchener company that controls the well-known potato chip brand says its efforts to rebuild and revive Humpty Dumpty are paying dividends. A new logo, new packaging, new products, and increased advertising and promotional activities have given the brand a higher profile. The higher profile, in turn, has boosted sales and profits, shareholders of Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods were told yesterday at the company's annual meeting in Kitchener.

Gerry Schmalz, Humpty Dumpty's chairman and chief executive officer, reminded them that at last year's meeting the company said it would improve its performance in 2000. "I believe we have lived up to that promise," he said. The company, which operated as Small Fry Snack Foods until last fall, boosted its sales 10 per cent to $171 million. It posted profits of almost $1 million, a 110 per cent increase. Schmalz said shareholders can look for even better results this year because the North American appetite for potato chips and other salted snack foods continues to grow.

Canadians eat an average of 6.4 kilograms of salted snack foods each a year. The salted snack food market in Eastern Canada is growing at an annual rate of seven per cent. While the U.S. market is growing at a slower clip - 4.4 per cent a year - Americans eat more salted snacks - an average of 10.3 kilograms each a year.

The company, which sells chips, cheese sticks, pretzels, popcorn and other snacks to grocery chains, convenience stores and other retailers in Eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., is poised to take a bigger bite out of the growing market because of the strength and marketing potential of "the Humpty Dumpty super brand," said Schmalz. The brand has been around for 53 years, but it was given new life a year ago when Small Fry bought the assets of the Humpty Dumpty Potato Chip Co. out of bankruptcy. That gave Small Fry the U.S. rights to the popular brand. It already owned the Canadian rights - it bought Humpty Dumpty Foods in 1994 - so the acquisition re-united a brand that had been split since the Canadian and American sides of the business came under separate ownership in the 1950s.

With Humpty Dumpty back together again, the company updated the logo - Lynda Murray, the vice-president of marketing, said it "has more impact, yet remains connected to the past" - and beefed up its marketing. It introduced new products under the Humpty Dumpty name, launched an interactive Web site, aggressively promoted the brand in stores, and ran its first television commercials. Efforts to capture the attention of snack-hungry teenagers will continue this year, Murray said. The company will put a Humpty Dumpty PT Cruiser on the road and do a cross promotion with the World Wrestling Foundation. "It is guaranteed to gain display (space) and drive sales," Murray said.

Schmalz said acquiring the U.S. rights to Humpty Dumpty was a tremendous coup because it boosted the company's productivity - by putting more production into the firm's plants in Brampton, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island - and opened the door to the huge American market. "Humpty Dumpty gives us brand awareness in the U.S. we wouldn't have otherwise," he said. "Before we couldn't take the product across the 49th (parallel). Now we can."

Although the company has put the spotlight on Humpty Dumpty, the private label production it does for retailers such as Sobey's, Loblaws and A&P will continue to be an important source of revenue, Schmalz said. Private label production accounted for 29 per cent of sales last year. Humpty Dumpty has about 1,000 employees, including 35 in the head office on King Street East.

The company's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SNX. They closed at $2 yesterday.

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