Elsevier Food International

Volume 5, No. 3 September 2002

Market Vision
Bill McEwan, President & CEO of Canadian retailer Sobeys, sees three main differentiators in retailing: cost control, product differentiation and customer focus. Based on this, retailers must distinguish themselves from competition. Sobeys translates this in high touch, high service, high dress: fulfilling hidden customer demands, exceeding expectations and earning loyalty.

High touch, high service, high dress

ECR
Category management was originally invented as a collaborative retailer-manufacturer effort to spur growth and profitability, while offering better service to the customer. In practice, the focus was on efficiency gains and cost cutting, therewith underexposing the important differentiation of the retail brand.

Category management: Dead or alive

EFI Special
The food manufacturing industry is rapidly consolidating with large companies eating the small and medium sized ones. The figures tell the story: as recently as in 2000, food revenues from the world's top ten companies were worth $220 billion. This figure has now risen to over $260 billion.

Top Manufacturers: Constant Consolidation

Instore
Tired of waiting in long lines at the checkout counter, consumers are more than willing to use self-checkout equipment to speed up their shopping trip. Where available as high as 25 per cent of transactions go through self-checkout systems.

Taking matters into their own hand

Country Profile
The Philippines' acerbic local press has often pigeonholed the country as the 'Sick Man of Asia,' a label earned by the former US colony during the tumultuous years of the Marcos dictatorship. Whether or not the derisive title is well deserved, the Philippines has passed every acid test that came its way, showing resilience through the years.

The Philippines resilience amid crisis

Food Watch
Companies increasingly work internationally, and across the globe consumer habits are constantly changing. Globalisation challenges companies' adaptability at all levels and it is crucial for companies to attract and retain staff that can deal with this. Research, however, indicates that most organisations devote too little time on this aspect of HRM.

A worldly-wise and world wide workforce

Few women have succeeded in breaking through the glass ceiling to reach the top of the food industry. Thanks to the US-based Network of Executive Women, however, initiatives are growing to encourage them to move away from the check out and into the boardroom.

Breaking glass

Retail Profile
The privately owned German retailer Schwarz Group has already expanded its Lidl discount chain to all corners of Europe. Now it's doing the same with its hypermarket banner Kaufland, which is expected to become a dominant player in every market in which it sets up shop.

Kaufland: The Industrialisation of Retailing

Fresh Foods
When it comes to coffee consumption, Northern and Southern Europe are worlds apart. In the North, the Scandinavians drink large quantities of coffee, especially the Finns who clearly lead the ranking with a per capita coffee consumption of 11.26 kilograms. This is almost 2.5 kilo more than the runners-up, the Norwegians. However, in Northern Europe coffee consumption is declining.

Coffee Per Cap