Those who thought an investment in Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC) was a no-brainer have had a rude awakening. Over the past 12 months, the stock is down over 25%. With the recent announcement of Warren Buffett's retirement from the board of directors, some may think that the worst is yet to come.

And yet, one of Buffett's very own famous phrases is to "be greedy when others are fearful". Investors shouldn't cut bait with Kraft Heinz until they consider the following positives embedded in its recent earnings report. Here are three ways Kraft Heinz can turn itself around.

Image source: Kraft Heinz.

International growth

The big knock on Kraft Heinz is its lack of organic growth, and the recent quarter showed continued stagnation for the food giant, with overall revenue declining 0.6% on a constant-currency basis. Of course, adjusted EBITDA was able to grow roughly 3.2% as a result of 3G's signature cost-cutting initiatives. Still, there's a limit to how far cost-cutting can go, and when Kraft Heinz reports declining revenue, it feeds into the narrative that the company is losing ground as consumers increasingly opt for healthier foods or cheaper private-label offerings.

However, there are regions where Kraft Heinz is growing, namely its "rest of world" segment, which encompasses regions outside of the U.S., Canada, and Europe. That segment, now the company's second largest, grew a healthy 7% on a constant-currency basis in the fourth quarter. The company noted that growth was particularly strong in Indonesia, China, and Brazil, and as investors should know, China is an enormous market with over one billion people beginning to enter the middle class. The rest of world segment generated $843 million of revenue in the fourth quarter, and while it's the company's second-largest segment, it's still less than one-fifth the size of the U.S. business.

The company also noted that it had completed state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in both Brazil and China, and it aims to increase the countries in which it has two of its three major brands (Kraft, Heinz, and Planters) from 10% to 80% of its global footprint over the next few years. As these emerging economies grow, Kraft Heinz should benefit as well.

Outperforming cost cuts

While it may not be enough to get investors excited, Kraft Heinz also exceeded the cost-cutting targets that it had laid out at the time of the Heinz acquisition in 2015. Management noted it had improved company efficiency by 40% in two years, delivering $1.7 billion in annual cost savings, exceeding its original $1.5 billion target. Not only that, but management claims the figure would have been $1.9 billion if not for an extra $200 million investment the company made modernizing its data and marketing systems.