Vol. 3 No. 12

Industry Affairs News

The Industry Affairs Review  is made possible by support of:

In This Issue:  

Registration Open for Supply Chain Conference

Member Companies Respond to Rising Hunger Levels

IA Group Volunteers at Foodbank

Unsaleables Conference

Dates Set

GMA Communication Survey Seeks Responses

Social Media Meeting Is a

'Great Success'

Social Media Survey Released

IDAC Plots 2010 Strategy

CFO Committee Conducts

Two Studies

DSD Group Meets in Chicago

Manufacturers Share Group Tours Kansas City Plant

Global Closeup: Germany's Rewe Group

Datebook

GMA Industry

Affairs Group:

Jonathan Downey

Manager

Industry Affairs & Business Development

Jennifer Finci

Assistant

Supply Chain & Technology

Jeanne Iglesias
Director
Supply Chain & Technology

Jill Johnson

Director

Logan Kastner

Senior Manger

Sales & Sales Promotion

 
Brian Lynch
Director
Sales & Sales Promotion

Jessica Martin

Assistant

Sales & Sales Promotion

 
Stephen A. Sibert
Senior Vice President
Industry Affairs

Brooke Weizmann

Senior Manager

Industry Performance

Industry Affairs

Review Team:

Natalie Berg
Grocery Retail Manager
Planet Retail Ltd.
IAR Consultant

Jo Anne Sharlach
Singley Associates

Editor

January 31 - February 2

J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge

Phoenix, Arizona

How Today's Consumers Choose Products

Even in these hard times, consumers are making purchases on factors other than price. Read GMA's new shopper marketing survey to find the details. For a free copy on the complete marketing survey, click here.

Got a Job Vacancy

That Needs Filling?

GMA’s Career Center is the answer if your company is seeking top-quality employees in positions from the CEO-level down to internships.

Positions are advertised through GMA’s SmartBrief, delivered to 50,000 subscribers every weekday and through the GMA Career Center.

Contact Lowell Karr at 202.639.5910 or e-mail lkarr@gmaonline.org. for more information.

Joint industry online service for product withdrawals and recalls.

Register for Inaugural Joint Supply Chain Conference Jan. 31-Feb. 2

Sign up today to attend the industry’s biggest supply chain conference – a meeting that combines the best of GMA’s annual Information Services and Logistics/Distribution Conference with FMI’s yearly Supply Chain Meeting.  Dates: Jan.31-Feb. 2.  Place: Phoenix.

Typical of the outstanding sessions offered attendees at this joint conference is The Benefits of a Shelf-Centered Supply Chain with Linda Nordgren (general vice president supply chain, strategic sourcing and operations at Safeway Inc.) and Ron Volpe (customer vice president, logistics, Kraft Foods Inc.). This case study probes a successful partnership that drives growth, improves out-of-stocks, cuts waste and delivers freshness to the consumer. The trading partners examine how they organize and align their teams, harness technology and look to supply chain savings to fuel future business growth.  To register or obtain more conference information, click here. 

Contact: Jeanne Iglesias

Member Companies Respond As Hunger Reaches New Levels

For most CPG companies, corporate responsibility has been a way of life for a long time.  This includes huge donations and volunteer involvement in feeding programs – many dating back to the inception of such programs.

This year, however, the nation’s economic crisis has pushed the numbers of Americans who lack sufficient food to the highest level since the government has been keeping records. “Despite the magnitude of the problem that, with rising unemployment and underemployment, could become even worse this winter, our companies are helping meet the demands of a hungry nation,” GMA Senior Vice President Stephen Sibert said. “Across the country this holiday season, we are seeing our member companies and our trading partners open their hearts and their warehouses to the almost 50 million U.S. citizens – including one in every four children – who have had periods in the past year when they were hungry.”

Some GMA member-company activities include:

• This month, General Mills committed to donating 150 truckloads of fresh production – or 49 million bowls of whole grain cereal – to Feeding America, America’s largest national network for food relief.

• The ConAgra Foods Foundation has been a committed partner to Feeding America for more than 15 years and is that organization's leading corporate partner in the fight against child hunger, providing both food and funds. In September, the foundation announced a new $10 million commitment to Feeding America – the largest donation to fight hunger in children in Feeding America’s history. ConAgra has also provided millions of meals through its product donations.

• Nestlé’s Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets are donating one million meals to support foodbanks nationwide.

• Libby’s Vegetables is matching up to $30,000 of donations raised by mid-December to a total of 350,000 meals for needy families.

What is your company doing to alleviate hunger in America? Send your information to pgiles@gmaonline.org for use in our next newsletter.

Contact: Stephen Sibert

GMA Industry Affairs Group Volunteers at Capitol Area Foodbank

Senior Vice President Stephen Sibert led his entire department in a half day of work at Washington, D.C.’s largest public nonprofit hunger and nutrition education resource and partner in the Feeding America program on December 18. The team stuffed meal boxes for hungry families.  “Currently, some 633,000 local metropolitan area residents are at risk of being hungry, and some 200,000 of these are children,” Sibert said. “This is a perfect way to kick off a holiday celebration by coming together as a team and giving back to the community.”  He added that in lieu of a holiday staff luncheon this year, the team decided to donate those funds, along with individual contributions, to the Capital Area Foodbank.

Contact: Pat Giles

Save the Date:  Joint Industry Unsaleables Conference July 20-22

The Joint Unsaleables Committee will host its 2010 conference July 20-22 at the J.W. Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa, announced Conference Co-Chairs Gary Piwko, director of remarketing and returns management, Kellogg Company, and Ted Lechner, reverse logistics manager, H-E-B.  For more information or ideas on possible session topics, contact Logan Kastner at lkastner@gmaonline.org.  For sponsorship and exhibit opportunities, contact Jonathan Downey at jdowney@gmaonline.org. The 2010 conference – with the theme of Solving the Puzzle: Unsaleables Strategies for the Entire Value Chain – is the only conference that provides education content on managing unsaleables in the food and grocery industry.

Contact: Logan Kastner

Help Evaluate GMA’s and IAR’s Communications With Your Company

Do you find the Industry Affairs Review (IAR) keeps you up-to-date on what the association is doing on the industry level, plus giving you up-close and personal profiles of leading global retailers and GMA committee and council leaders?  Click here and evaluate this newsletter and other GMA publications in an effort to offer member companies a voice in what is communicated to them and how it is communicated.

Contact:  Beth Ludwick

First Ever Social Media Forum 'A Great Success'

More than 100 industry executives attended GMA’s first ever Social Media Forum earlier this month in New York City. Speaker Phil Lempert – author, speaker, trends expert known as the Supermarket Guru – (left) opened the event.  “Our members called the forum ‘a great learning event’ and praised the speakers and session content,” Jeanne Iglesias, GMA Director of Industry Affairs and conference coordinator said. “One attendee noted that their entire marketing team would have benefited greatly had they been there.”

Contact: Jeanne Iglesias

Informal GMA Survey Show Members Shifting to Social Media

An informal poll of 22 CPG companies conducted by GMA and released at the Social Media Forum indicates that only 47 percent of CPG companies have more than a cursory social-media presence, and almost 64 percent said they are shifting resources from traditional to social media. Those queried also noted that more than half (almost 53 percent) of CPG companies said they have little engagement in social media. “Companies are having problems realizing return-on-investment or determining how to measure social media’s returns,” said GMA IA Director Jeanne Iglesias. “Of the 22 companies surveyed, 11 said they are working toward generating revenue via social media but have not yet achieved it, while only two said they currently were generating funds.”

Contact: Jeanne Iglesias

IDAC Meets to Plot 2010 Strategy

The Industry Development and Advisory Committee (IDAC) met earlier this month at GMA to discuss its 2010 initiatives and brainstorm ideas for the next executive conference and other GMA development opportunities. Companies represented include Time Inc. Retail, Kraft Foods Inc., Coca-Cola North America, The Procter & Gamble Company, The Hershey Company, Campbell Sales Company, The Clorox Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company and Hallmark Cards Inc. Next committee meeting is scheduled for the FMI Mid-Winter meeting.

Contact: Brian Lynch

CFO Committee Conducting Two New Studies

Industry Affairs’ new CFO Committee is studying two key issues and will issue reports this winter, according to GMA staff coordinator, Brooke Weizmann, IA senior manager.

The first report probes product recall financial management and measurement, successful practices in recall management and the CFO’s strategic role in these processes.  Ernst & Young is doing the study. A second initiative deals with financial function succession planning, and this study is being done by Deloitte.

The recent meeting by the GMA CFO Committee also heard updates on the 2010 GMA CPG Industry Financial Performance Report being conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. An address by Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was recently appointed by Congress to the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the cause of the recent financial crisis, kicked off the meeting.

Contact: Brooke Weizmann

DSD Group Meets in Chicago

The Direct Store Delivery Committee meeting in Chicago December 2-3 at Accenture headquarters. Accenture executives provided a guided tour of their state-of-the-art innovation center and hosted a holiday reception for the 14 committee members and their guests.

Contact: Jeanne Iglesias

Plant Tour, Industry Updates Featured at Share Group Meet

GMA’s Manufacturing Excellence Share Group recently toured member-company American Italian Pasta Company’s plant located in Kansas City, as part of their two day meeting in Missouri. The group also heard updates on the KPI initiative from Director of Manufacturing Greg Flickinger of Lance Inc., and a presentation on overall equipment effectiveness packaging led by Tom Egan, vice president of industry services, and Fred Hayes, director of technical services, both of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association. Vice President of Manufacturing Dan Sileo of Sunny Delight Beverage Company led a team discussion on change management; GMA Vice President Steve Sibert discussed the GMA Strategic Plan; and Steve Perry, founder, of Perry/Schlegel LLC, briefed attendees on the GMA Upstream Program.

Contact: Jeanne Iglesias

Global Closeup

Germany's Rewe Group Revives Good Old Days With Return to "Mom & Pop" Sales

The Rewe Group is one of Germany and Europe’s leading food retailing giants with retail operations in Germany and 13 other nations in Eastern and Central Europe. Undergoing a recent reorientation, this 80-year-old firm at the end of November quietly opened its first neighborhood-style store in a suburb of the headquarters town of Cologne.

Carrying the new Temma brand, the 800-square-metre outlet focuses on regional organic, fresh and convenience foods and includes an in-store restaurant. The name Temma is borrowed from Tante Emma (Aunt Emma), the colloquial German term for mom-and-pop stores.

Can New Concept Find Critical Mass? With Temma, Rewe addresses the desire for a lucrative niche with those consumers seeking authenticity and ethical credentials without compromising on the indulgence aspect. That said, the concept is new to a major German food retailer, and the question is whether it can find the critical mass of consumer support to justify nationwide roll-out, especially as part of the very core features of the concept are local sourcing and regional adaptation. The Rewe Group says it will decide on a broader roll-out after a one-year trial.

“Proximity is a key topic,” Rewe Group's CEO Alain Caparros said in June, talking about the retailer’s first promising results from the conversion of smaller Rewe stores to Rewe City, a concept that was only introduced in May. At the same time, he revealed that Rewe had an even smaller concept in the pipeline for stores ranging from 300 to 500 square metres, designed to be a “market style” format, offering organic and ethical foods as well as in-store catering. Obviously, the new concept Caparros was talking about is this new Temma store, although, with 800 square metres, the pilot is larger than anticipated..

Alian Caparros, 53, was named CEO of the Rewe-Group in December 2006.  The French native began his career in 1981 at French cosmetics firm of Yves Rocher. In 1994, he joined European discount store leader Aldi, where he became general director of Aldi France. In 2000, Caparros became a member of senior management of the Bon Appetit Group in Switzerland, then an ASP shareholder. By 2003, he became CEO of a stock exchange-listed company, the third largest food trader in the Swiss market, whose majority share was acquired by Rewe Group in mid-2003. The Tiaret-native has been a member of Rewe Group senior management in Cologne since mid-2004.

The Temma Idea: The Temma concept is a blend of several features with feel-good credentials, which not only includes organic and fair trade, but the store also has an air of regionality, authenticity, naturalness, healthy eating, sustainability and personal service. All this is combined with rustic and partly retro-style store fittings and design elements in a “market stall” atmosphere. However, the indulgence factor is not forgotten.

Service Counters Are Back: Indeed, after years of cutting down on service costs by closing manned counters, the service counter is back in fashion. Temma has several staffed counters – including antipasti, cheese, bakery, meats and charcuterie – as well as a separate counter for 80 different varieties of loose teas (See above.). Many of the products can be sampled in the in-store restaurant.

In total, Temma offers a range of roughly 5,000 SKUs, which also includes a wide selection of wines and natural health and beauty care. Local sourcing is taken seriously. Walnuts, for example are sourced from nearby Erft county, not imported from California. 

Nostalgia Rules: Going back to “the good old days” seems to be a general trend in uncertain times. In keeping with the trend towards smaller, convenience-oriented corner shops, Rewe Group's Austrian division Billa opened a new convenience-store pilot in Vienna just a few weeks ago. The store concept has been dubbed “Billa box” and covers a sales area of only 150 square metres.

Datebook

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Industry Affairs Review is produced by the Grocery Manufacturers Association in cooperation with Planet Retail. Current and past issues may be found here. If you wish to add colleagues’ names to the mailing list or if you wish to unsubscribe, please click here, or write to jdowney@gmaonline.org.

@ Copyright 2009 by GMA, 1350 I Street N.W. #300, Washington, D.C. 20005. All rights reserved. The content and copyright for the lead profile is owned by Planet Retail, a leading provider of grocery retail intelligence— www.planetretail.net.