Global Food Collaborative

Do you remember ther Burger King Slogan, "Have It Your Way"?   Did you know that was nearly 35 year ago?   No kidding.

Burger King's 1970's slogan and campaign, "Have It Your Way" resonated with the general public because it put the focus on the customer.   The customer was king.    The campaign was hugely successful at drawing a line in the sand between Burger King and its competitors in fast food.   So much so that surveys conducted by advertising professionals and Burger King say that the slogan remains its most successful and long-standing memory by customers of how Burger King is different from the rest of the pack.   

It seems such a logical business assumption.   Of course the customer is king.    Let's try to remember this at Global Food Alaska 2009 and hope that if we practice the mantra that the customer is king - that we will have a line in the sand that distinguishes us as suppliers who listen and respond accordingly.

In the food supply chain, many pressures are exerted on the commercial food buyer to influence "how they want it."   

• In this day and age - buyers are highly influenced by government compliance.   Whether it is national, state or local - food buyers have a myriad of compliance requirements that they must adhere to, but as we are learning - the food safety and security systems are often inefficient and ineffective.    The US Federal Government seems to recognize the problem and is attempting to address it.   Remember, it is the food buyer and ultimately the customer who pays for these inefficient and ineffective systems.... sometimes that is in terms of illness and definitely one's pocketbook.    Yikes!
• Commercial buyers are becoming increasingly influenced by their own corporate policies.   Most leading global companies now have sustainability, carbon footprint and reducing obesity/health policies.  These policies were somewhat fluid over the past 5 years, but we see them getting ratcheted down with true metrics and standards that must be met by commercial buyers.  
• In Alaska, the buyers are heavily influenced by Mother Nature.  Most recently, we've had an on/off Volcano, an earthquake and bad winter storms.   In 2008, we had slow and no fish in some rivers, a lot of rain and cold temperatures that impacted agriculture AND shellfish farms.     
• Worldwide, organizations and agencies are exerting pressure on buyers - from environmental to promotion on how commercial buyers buy.    In fact, the big commercial buyers have now hired "gate keepers" to let the commercial buyers concentrate on what they are hired and paid to do - procure.
• Let's not forget energy costs and the worldwide economy exerting pressure on how commercial buyers are influnced in their buying decisions.    The "go local" movement has gained huge momentum over the past 2 years and completely shaken up global, national and local supply chains.

In spite of all of these influences on the commercial buyer, they are still king.   They are the indivuals who try to balance everything above, at the same time they are reducing costs and increasing market share.    Alaska's suppliers have great potential to work hand in hand with these commercial buyers to understand the influences on these buying decisions and create products that grow our mutual businesses.  

Global Food Alaska is designed to bring those commercial buyers to Alaska and do our best to create solutions so that they can "Have it Their Way".      Over my lifetime much of Alaska has been a production-driven and politically-driven state as it relates to food, beverage and agri-products.      It is time to mobilize the private sector with its commercial buying partners and create solutions that mutually grow our businesses.    No filters.  

Personally, I've already heard from a number of buyers who disclose privately what "having it their way" means to their sourcing needs.    I can't wait until they get directly in front of suppliers to share and create solutions that make them more successful and hopefully their job a little easier.

I wonder if anyone has any old Burger King buttons?