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Morrisons decides to shout about its food credentials
Archived article dated Monday October 15th 2007
Morrisons is misunderstood by many people, who think it is a discounter with no fresh foods, according to its chief executive Marc Bolland, who is working hard to address this issue.
Speaking at the IGD Convention 2007 in London Bolland says: “Consumers have told us that if people have not been in our stores then we are perceived as a discounter with no fresh products. We are therefore sharpening our position.”To address this issue Bolland is focusing on some of the areas of the company that he believes have been overlooked or hidden from view. This includes making more of the food that is made on the premises - especially within its well-regarded Market Street area).
This involves the activities of the in-store butchers, bakers and fishmongers being made more visible to consumers: “Market Street will evolve and be even more customer friendly. It was like people were hiding behind artificial walls. We'll open this all up and show people the kitchen.”
With as many as 1,700 lines made in-store - including sandwiches and pizzas - the homemade credentials of these products will be brought more to the fore. Work is also being undertaken on the company's own-label range with 3,000 products already re-launched and another 4,000 planned for before the end of the year.
Bolland says Morrisons will also be making more use of its close links to farmers since its uses all its own livestock and 80 per cent of its products are from its own supply chain. This means more of a focus placed on provenance than there has been to date.
He recognises that such activity will be increasingly important for Morrisons if it is to successfully tap into the trends of sustainability and environment-friendly work practices that are now being demanded by growing numbers of consumers.
“We have not been famous for the environment and sustainability and have often been at the bottom of
Packaging and labelling is one issue that he believes needs to be better addressed since he suggests it is “confusing” and that customers are not well served with the information they are given on products. However, he adds: “We need to find a solution through a unifying between retailers and suppliers. It can only be solved with an integration of minds.”
Another area of focus for the company is segmentation because the same products have typically been stocked in all Morrisons' stores regardless of their location. Under Bolland's instructions each store now has a tailored range of products - as shown by the new store in Erskine in Scotland that has 500 Scottish goods sourced from 100 local suppliers.
Tagged as: food | grocery | retailing | igd
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