food and agribusiness
Valid specifics
Priority list
Social discontinuity
Cooperation is key
Knowledge sharing
Coming of age
Wh at S NewS Issue 9 October/November 1999 I J
nienee foods. Extensive research carried
out hy Campbell Soups shows that super-
markets do not score high as options for
purchasing convience foods, so are losing
out in the battle for the HMR foodspend.
The statistics provided by Hartmann were
compelling. Over 40% of working women
do not know what they will be making for
dinner at 4pm. This often ends in a visit
to a take-out option. At Campbell Soups,
Hartmann's division is attempting to
make home cooking more than the aspira-
tion it often is today. From a consumer
survey, it appears that information is a top
priority. Campbell's has entered into
retailer partnerships to facilitate meal
solutions, also by offering suggestions on
hovv to use products. They are still in the
Krocess of building similar relationships
fith other manufacturers and suppliers of
perishables.
Perishables is an area that France's
Bongrain knows all about. As one of the
strongest marketeers of both French and
local cheeses around the world, Bertrand
Le Jariel explained how Bongrain has ap-
proached this huge market by building a
brand portfolio. Le Jariel argued that
brands are important everywhere, but
have a different role to play in emerging
markets. In more sophisticated markets,
Bongrain has opted to grow its interna
tional business through both innovation
and the acquisition of local brands. Often,
_the two are combined, as the case of
(pain's burgo de arias, a 150-year old
"brand vvhich has been repackaged in a
more convenient way and relaunched.
The conclusion for Bongrain is that its
focus on profitability through speciHcity
rather than through mass production is a
very valid approach to globalization and
internationalization.
First up for the final section of the confer
ence was a representative of the sector
which is currently generating the hottest
issues in the food business. Jon Allen of
Zeneca Agrochemicals asked conference
what are the primary issues confronting
the food industry in the next Hve years?
He already had the answers. Based on re
search carried out by Zeneca, risk man-
Prgemcnt and food security are top of
every priority list. As a player focused on
the initial links in the food chain, he ar
gued that these issues mean agrochemical
companies must look beyond the farmgate
if they are to understand erop use by the
rest of that chain. By joining with other
players right down the production process
to ensure both strong risk management
and food security. This is why Zeneca is
advocating combining skills throughout
the chain, whereby knowledge sharing
becomes an integral part of an integrated
process which generates both reduced risk
and greater safety. Zeneca, according to
Allen, is ready to cooperate and hopes the
industry will join thern.
Cooperation was also a key element in
Johannes Eenhoorn of Unilever's presenta-
tion. Under the heading 'Fight or cooper
ate for stomach share', he expressed some
of his concerns about the future of the
food industry. With 30 years in the busi
ness, he is worried about the discontinuity
in society which, he argued, has enormous
implications for the way we eat, the way
we shop, the way we buy and the way we
sell. Major discontinuities in society occur
when more than one technological break-
through happens simultaneously. The co-
incidence of IT, biotech and robotics will
change lives and the way business is done.
The advent of a broad range of distribu-
tion channels for food through so-called
'new purchase points' has been enabled by
IT, and these can only become more im
portant in the future. Traditional grocery
stores and discounters will lose custom to
Talking business - inside and outside the hall
those vendors offering convenience and
quality. They are willing to pay premiums
for these aspects. This will lead to a fight
between retailers and other food providers
which can only become more fierce in the
long term. Eenhoorn is predicting that the
dividing lines between retail and non-re-
tail will disappear and the amalgamation
of channels will become the norm, rather
than the exception. 'We have only one
option here - cooperation,' he stressed.
'The stakes are too high to ignore what
will be the future of our industry.'
It was almost as though this final section
comprised almost exclusively pleas for
more knowledge sharing and interaction
along the food chain. The final speaker
Marketing's Shirani van Lenthe (r) helps out
was Alastair Storey of contract caterers
Granada Food Services. Following Marcel
Jacobs of Compass' overview of the cur-
rent global market earlier in the confer
ence, Storey was able to look more closely
at how this sector can and will develop,
especially if more sections in the chain can
work more closely together on tackling
changing consumer behaviours and
obvious customer trends in this rapidly
growing market segment. He offered clear
examples on how manufacturers were
recognizing and taking advantage of the
opportunities offered by contract caterers.
In one case, proactivity on the part of a
top soft drinks manufacturer resulted in a
25% increase in sales and 43% growth in
margins. 'Everyone wins,' he said.
What both Jacobs and Storey were posit-
ing was the fact that 'industrial catering'
has come of age. It is now a sector with
huge potential. The concession market is
thriving within the contract catering
framework. Storey's plea was for the
whole industry to understand this devel-
opment and take it seriously. He called for
colleagues all along the chain to work
with the contractors, developing the right
products and the right displays, the right
marketing support and infrastructure to
support what will certainly be a real op-
portunity for the future.
