Supply Excellence

A Tale of Two Supermarkets

October 16th, 2008 · No Comments · best practices, spend analysis, supply management

Despite the economic turmoil, people still need to eat. And when times are tough, they’re naturally going to eat out less, cook more meals at home and even brown bag some lunches. So, you would assume that provides opportunity for supermarkets, but that might not always be the case.
Last week Safeway announced they had increased [...]

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3rd Party Financing – Cut costs or raise prices?

October 15th, 2008 · No Comments · best practices, spend analysis, supply management, supply risk

In a blog post last Friday, Jason Busch brought up an interesting twist on the credit crisis…namely the ability of businesses to pass along increased supply chain costs to the end customer in an environment of tightening belts and lowered spending. He cites a story out of the UK where Marks & Spencer and [...]

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Countering Commodity Increases - While Still Letting the Little Guys Eat Their Lobster

October 9th, 2008 · No Comments · best practices, sourcing, spend analysis, supply management

Talk about getting squeezed! Businesses of all sizes are feeling the pinch of rising commodity costs - from fuel and energy to flour and eggs. Leading retail, CPG, and restaurant companies are employing a variety of different approaches to cope in today’s market, including focusing on supply chain and productivity initiatives, offering drastic [...]

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Dear Commodity Buyers, Don’t give up!

August 4th, 2008 · 2 Comments · best practices, sourcing, supply management, supply market dynamics

Over on Spend Matters, Jason Busch recently brought attention to McDonalds’ ever rising commodity price increases, which they are soaking up rather than passing on to their customers. As Jason notes, McDonalds’ expects cheese to rise 21%, chicken 5-6% and beef 8-9% this year. So, why not raise prices on their menu? Well if you [...]

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