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.
Elsevier Food International, Vol. 5, Number 3, September 2002
Anna Lambert

As first-comers on the shopping front line, women are in a unique position to offer insight into the world of food retail, to highlight its strengths and weaknesses, and to make a difference to the way in which the industry is perceived. Yet, when it comes to actually working within the industry, few of them seem to make it beyond shop floor level. There are exceptions, of course: Elizabeth Culligan, President at A&P, currently the highest ranking female executive in the US supermarket industry; Judy Sprieser, CEO at Transora and Sprieser's peer at CPGmarket, Marie-Pierre Rogers; Melody Justice, senior vp in field sales and marketing for Coca-Cola in North America and Colleen A. Goggins, Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson's Consumer & Personal Care Group. On a worldwide level, however, the number of high-flying female food executives

Elizabeth Culligan, President at A&P, currently is the highest ranking female executive in the US food retail industry. Photo: A&P

remains disappointingly low.
Just over 12 months ago, NEW (the Network of Executive Women) set out to change all this. According to its mission statement, NEW aims to, " ... attract, retain and advance women in the consumer products and food retail industry through leadership and business development." Says Priscilla Donegan, NEW's director of PR/communications, "Our key activities centre on education, leadership, membership and mentoring. We were lucky in gaining the support of the big players right from the beginning. Without them, we knew we'd have credibility problems but Coca-Cola, Minute Maid and 7-Eleven were all enthusiastic from the word go. It seems that there's a new appreciation of the need for change. After all, it's not just women with children who feel the need for a cultural shift in the food industry workplace - plenty of men also believe that business should be conducted in a family-friendly way that's to the benefit of both consumers and staff." Michele Hanson, president of NEW and corporate vice president of sales for the McLane Company, agrees, "We want everyone's involvement in NEW, both men's and women's, because what's good for women is great for men."
Two examples of male corporate leaders who are clearly right behind NEW are Jim Keyes, CEO of 7-Eleven, which recently committed $25,000 to the network, and Don Knauss, president and CEO of Minute Maid Americas. Last May, NEW presented Knauss with its first 'Outstanding Champion' award. "Dan's early and ongoing support helped turn the network into a reality," says Michele Hanson. "Not only has he been a terrific champion of the network, but he is also working to develop a culture of diversity at The Minute Maid Company." Generating sponsorship from big corporations to help women focus on issues such as retention and career advancement is a big part of NEW's remit. Last year, for example, Accenture sponsored a 'Women in Management Conference', which featured some 40 speakers. It seems that Accenture has also taken NEW's message to heart within its own corporate structure, re-examining issues such as flexitime and ensuring that flexible travel and telecommunication arrangements are now on offer to all its employees. It has also started to develop its own mentoring programme.
Another aspect of its programme that NEW considers particularly important is its mentoring scheme. As Michele Hanson sees it, "Mentoring is one of the key ingredients in developing great leaders."
Joan Toth, NEW's executive director, was responsible along with Sharon Petrarca, manager, data process and analysis, The Minute Maid Company, and Kathi Tabrizi, manager, business knowledge for The Minute Maid Company, for organising the first NEW mentoring programme held, recently at the Coca-Cola USA headquarters in Atlanta. "Since 'lack of mentors' is often cited by women as a barrier to advancement in our industry, we feel strongly that the mentoring programme will become a core benefit to the members of
NEW," says Toth.
NEW's scheme has been specially designed to accommodate both executive level and emerging leader level participants, matching mentors and proteges according to both skill sets and "interpersonal dynamics", as well as providing them with a structured, one-day orientation programme. According to the network, its aim is " ... to offer women in small companies or entrepreneurs who may not have access to other types of mentoring programs the ability to participate in a formal, inexpensive mentoring experience. And for women in larger companies with an in-house mentoring programme, the NEW mentoring experience provides a different perspective, as participants interact with others outside of their corporate culture."
At the kick-off session, participants were drawn from companies such as The Minute Maid Company, Flash Foods, International Mass Retail Association and Procter & Gamble. Feedback from participants - both mentors and proteges - has been equally positive. "Those of us who have worked in this industry for a long time now have the opportunity to give back as mentors and share our insights with talented younger women," says Luci Sheehan, senior vice president, sales at the Merchandising Corporation of America, while participant Sandra Bushby, who is director, training, organisational development and corporate communications at McLane Company adds, "The NEW mentor process and meeting provided solid action steps. This is not an ambiguous process that is all talk and no walk."

Besides mentoring, other NEW initiatives include the planning of its inaugural conference, the development and delivery of regional programmes, a speakers' bureau and a networking feature within its website.
With NEW's membership now standing at about 200, plus a team of 20 key industry executives serving as Champions, the organisation looks set to gain pace - and, hopefully, to begin to spread its message beyond the US.
As Michele Hanson put it at the CRC-Convenience Retailing Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona back in February of this year, "Getting involved in NEW because it is the right thing to do from a business perspective, to drive competitive advantage. It is also the right thing to do from a personal perspective as many of you have daughters, nieces, granddaughters, wives and girlfriends, who need to be able to look at our great industry and see career opportunities that have no limits."

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Women in Food - the US Situation

• Although women account for 46 per cent of the US labour force, they have secured only 12,5 per cent of the Corporate Officer positions within the Fortune 500 ccmpaniess

• Women hold only 7.3 per cent of the Line Corporate Officer positions within the Fortune 500 companies1

• The food industry and food and drug stores segments both rank below the Fortune 500 average, with only ten per cent and nine per cent of the Corporate Officer Positions being represented by women ¹

• The target membership group for the Network of Executive Women: Consumer Products & Food Retail Industry (NEW) ranks in the bottom one-third of the 62 Fortune 500 industries, with women holding only 9.4 per cent of Corporate Officer positions^*1

¹Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners (2000)
^*Includes all companies in the F500 Food Industry, Food & Drug Stores plus Kmart, Target, Wal-Mart, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, BJ's Wholesale Club, Costco, Fleming, Nash Finch, Richfood Holdings, Supervalu

What is keeping women from advancing in the sector?

Women have indicated that the predominant barriers to success are:²
• Male stereotyping
• Exclusion from informal networks
• Inhospitable corporate cultures

Women of colour have noted similar obstacles³
• Not having an influential mentor or sponsor
• Lack of informal networking with influential colleagues
• Lack of company role models
• Lack of high visibility assignments

² Women in Corporate Leadership Catalyst, 1996
³ Catalyst, Women of Colour in Corporate Management: Opportunities & Barriers 1999

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For further information on NEW see its website www.networkofexecutivewomen.com. or to find out more about its inaugural conference, 'Going to the Top: What Every Great Leader Should Know: to be held at Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio on 6 November contact Anna Duran on 001 281-491-9433 or email aduran@ev1.net.