Chief Pricing Officer

Today Businessweek magazine is featuring comments from my friend and colleague Mike Neal (CEO, SignalDemand) on its homepage in reference to the article “Grocery Stores Fight Back Against Food Prices.”

According to its editorial staff, Businessweek’s new online “In Your Face” section highlights readers that offer “smart, incisive comments that move the conversation forward” - and this week the topic is Food 2.0:

The article is a worthwhile read, taking a look at the quickly forming “battleground” over food prices. Here’s an excerpt to give you an idea:

A year ago, when the cost of commodities such as wheat, oil, and corn was soaring, grocers grudgingly accepted price increases from Kellogg (K), General Mills (GIS), H.J. Heinz, (HNZ) and other food manufacturers. The strange thing is, those price tags never came back down, even when commodity prices collapsed in the fourth quarter of 2008. As a result, grocers have little cheer to offer their shoppers at a time of deepening economic gloom. “The prices don’t seem to go down as fast as they go up,” says Jeffrey Noddle, CEO of Minneapolis-based Supervalu, one of the nation’s leading grocers.

Now, the grocers are demanding action. On Jan. 7, Noddle told analysts to expect a “battleground” over the next six months as he pressures manufacturers to adjust their prices. And if they refuse? “In almost every category,” notes Noddle, “you have other vendors to look to.”

The food companies recognize that increases in the price of food outpaced commodity inflation during the fourth quarter last year, which should have resulted in higher profits. However, they argue, previous price hikes didn’t completely cover escalating production and commodity costs….

And for your convenience, Mike Neal’s comments in full:

Every major food producer has been anticipating this impasse. The problem lies in the fact that many producers don’t have the ability to accurately resassess their risk if they were to adjust prices. In order to confidently renegotiate contract prices, food producers must be able to accurately calculate the impact of price changes on volumes and margins, for each product line and customer contract.

Part of that calculation is a prediction of the success of demand shaping with strategic price changes. Without this knowledge and assurance, food producers with long term contracts could be effectively signing their own death warrants if faced with another jump in commodity prices.

Fortunately, technology has caught up with the pressures of the global marketplace and food producers are starting to adopt technologies that allow them to bring a new transparency and confidence to price strategy and contract negotiations. I envision that a new role - Chief Pricing Officer - will emerge from this awareness of the powerful strategic role pricing can play in the enterprise.

All you price professionals out there - what’s your take? Weigh in with a comment of you own on ChiefPricingOfficer.com.

Rip