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Republished
from the Rob’s
View: Who is the competition, anyway? 5/15/00 - Well, it certainly didn't take long for me to get a reputation among some of our competitors out there as a hard-driving CEO who's out to outdo them. My often-repeated words about beating the competition seem to have struck a chord with those who see themselves in that camp. They're somehow appalled that this Cooperative, which has lost overall market share for six straight years, would actually try to reverse that trend. In some ways, I suppose it's flattering. But in other ways, they're flattering themselves by assuming I'm speaking only of them when I talk about the competition. When I think of competitors, I truly have a bigger universe in mind. What are the brands that are trying to muscle us out of the juice aisle and into obscurity? I'll tell you a few of the names, and I'm sure you'll recognize them. It's V-8 Splash. It's Tropicana. It's Gatorade and Minute Maid. And who are the heavy-hitting, deep-pocketed players? It's The Coca-Cola Company. It's PepsiCo. It's Quaker. It's Campbell's. We're in the Major Leagues, and we need to play to win. Having spent my entire career in the consumer goods business, one of the things I've learned again and again, day in and day out, is that the competition's sole mission in life is to take away our market share and beat us at every turn. If we let them, they will. And if we don't try to get there first, we'll continue to lose market share. My point in all of this is not to hurl threats or project some sort of bravado. And I certainly harbor no ill will whatsoever against any independent cranberry grower who, in many cases, are neighbors, friends and even relatives of our growers and employees. Competition is brand vs. brand. It's not grower vs. grower. My point is simple. The competition's job is to beat us. Our job is to not let them. Our job is to compete -- fairly and squarely -- to reverse our losses and make new gains. That's what I was hired to do. I've been given a clear charge by the Board to turn this great company around. And I owe it to growers and employees to deliver. |