Kraft-Heinz (KHC  ) is in murky waters after the company's credit rating was downgraded, leaving company bonds in "junk" territory.

Kraft-Heinz saw its credit rating downgraded by Fitch Ratings Inc. last week, leaving the company with a "junk" rating that caused shares to drop 7.2%. The downgrade came a day after the company's earnings call, where the company cited numerous factors that would lead to an overall decline in earnings. Previously, the company had been downgraded to "BBB-" by Standard and Poor.

Kraft-Heinz, a giant in the food industry whose focus is largely in the field of processed foods, is facing a market where the increasing focus on healthier alternatives is causing a decrease in the relevance of packaged, processed foods. The decrease in consumption of processed foods has forced Kraft-Heinz to write down several of its major brands; last year alone the company's write-downs totaled $15.4 billion. The losses incurred by the Fitch downgrade cost stakeholder Berkshire Hathaway over $1 billion.

The issue facing Kraft-Heinz cannot be entirely attributed to market irrelevance; while it plays a major factor, part of the reason Kraft-Heinz is facing issues marketing its products in the first place is a lack of an effective response. Kraft-Heinz's response to the increasing pressure of a market that is rapidly making the company's products irrelevant was to cut costs and cut costs alone. There has been no attempt to reinvent existing brands or launch new product lines to meet new consumer preferences; in fact, there seems to be no drive to innovate at all. In a market where healthy alternatives, organic food products, and vegetable-based meat alternatives are becoming increasingly more relevant, Kraft-Heinz continues to rely on heavily processed foods with no real alternative choices offered across any of its brands. While it won't solve all of the company's problems, including its considerable debt issues and constant write-downs, attempting to play to the changing preferences of consumers could go far in helping the company stay relevant and potentially recover lost earnings.