just-food reports on the latest happenings at the CIES World Food Business Summit, where the food sector’s leading figures have met to discuss the issues affecting the global industry. Read on to discover what has been said…
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“Sustainability is not a one-off project. It’s more a way of life, the way we think about the world” – Muhtar Kent, president and COO, Coca-Cola Co.
“Who really expects to stand in front of his or her maker one day and talk about shareholder value?” – Ray Anderson, founder and chairman, Interface
“The real lesson is not whether something is a failure – that doesn’t matter. The real lesson is that you cannot any longer manage people by just laying down financial data. You need to have meaning. Actions speak louder than words” – Franck Riboud, chairman and CEO, Danone
“Family-run companies are established in consumers’ awareness and there is greater goodwill towards them than towards the other misunderstood majors. But, we must earn this [goodwill] on a daily basis” – Dr h. c. August Oetker, Dr August Oetker K. G.
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By GlobalData“We probably shouldn’t be talking about target audiences. The language of target audiences implies something that isn’t there. They are no longer out there, sitting and waiting to listen to what we’ve got to say” – Andrew Robertson, president and CEO, BBDO Worldwide
“By 2015/16, there will be 600-700m new consumers that will have ascended to what we define as the middle class. These new consumers will not be striving for the things they used to strive for. They will want the same things we want – including better-quality food and beverages” – Kent
“We do need to produce more food. The population of the world is going up and they will need to eat – and they will probably choose to eat meat. Higher prices will encourage innovation and productivity. We need to dramatically improve the storage of crops and help farmers in developing countries work together to store grain better and market it more effectively” – Alexander Waugh, general director, National Association of British and Irish Millers
“It will be impossible to have 9bn people eating meat. What are you going to do when you have cut down the Amazon rain forest and transfer the land into animal husbandry production?” – Serge Papin, CEO, Système U
“My beef is that too much grain is reaching animals’ stomachs” – Patricia Glyn, South African adventurer and broadcaster
“Speculation can amplify the highs and lows [of commodity prices] but speculation is good. It is taking the risk and providing certainty for farmers” – Waugh
“It is very difficult for governments to second-guess the market and predict what is needed. Higher prices will encourage farmers to produce more. In fact, one of the biggest disruptions has been the intervention of governments around the world in the rice sector, which has boosted the price of rice on the world market” – Waugh
“The price of oil is no longer spiking. It is simply rising [and] that is fuelling some of the biggest transfers of wealth in history” – Kent
“The assertion that retailer purchasing power is a threat to the consumer goods industry is absolutely erroneous” – Alain Caparros, CEO, Rewe
“Discounters are here to stay but they will encounter cut-throat competition” – Jurgen Elfers, European retail research, Commerzbank, corporate and markets
“With the anti-trust watchdog, it will be difficult to go for consolidation deals [and] therefore it will be difficult to exploit industry-related M&A synergies” – Elfers
“People often over-estimate the importance of price in Germany. Consumers are ready to pay a higher price if their demands and requirements are met. In particular, organic products create the feeling of being protected” – Stephan Grünewald, managing partner, Rheingold Institute
“We can’t keep up with the demand for bio [organic] products. The sourcing on the farming side is not keeping pace” – Papin
“As a consumer, I feel most empowered. I can influence the things I buy so intimately in terms of the ethics of how it is produced and marketed and how it is supplied and packaged” – Glyn
“Waitrose has a real competitive advantage because of the sustainable model in which we operate. We are able to take the long-term view, in part because we have not got short-term shareholders on the outside. For us, labour employs capital; not capital employs labour” – Mark Price, managing director, Waitrose
“Part of the shock for European companies and retailers is that, over the last two years, European markets have been exposed to the same prices as world markets. That’s the reason why we are talking about rising food prices in Europe” – Waugh
