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Food industry executives last week surely noticed the similarities between the television miniseries "The Stand," and the strategy Efficient Consumer Response. As most pop culturists know, the teleplay was based on a novel by Stephen King. The story deals with the aftermath of a deadly virus that has spread across the country. In the allegorical sense, this tale of Armageddon pits good against evil

Food industry executives last week surely noticed the similarities between the television miniseries "The Stand," and the strategy Efficient Consumer Response. As most pop culturists know, the teleplay was based on a novel by Stephen King. The story deals with the aftermath of a deadly virus that has spread across the country. In the allegorical sense, this tale of Armageddon pits good against evil as mankind makes a Stand.

ECR, of course, is the grocery industry strategy designed to reduce costs by streamlining the distribution system. It also aims to bring better value to the consumer in the form of lower prices, better assortments and fewer out-of-stocks. The virus is the most obvious similarity between "The Stand" and ECR. In the former, the virus has spread throughout the country, crippling a nation. In the latter, waste and inefficiency have spread throughout the supply chain, preventing the efficient operation of the industry. In "The Stand," a group of people who survive the plague travel to find Mother Abigail. She is a 106-year-old black woman whom they see in their dreams and who personifies good. Opposing them is evil in the form of the Dark Man, Randall Flagg, who wants to take over the world. For supermarket executives today, the Dark Man is clearly the alternate formats. Mother Abigail is the vision of ECR that leading-edge executives are trying to turn into reality by installing new business practices in their day-to-day operations. The supermarket industry's Stand was on display two weeks ago in Chicago at the annual convention of the Food Marketing Institute as prominent executives announced their ECR successes and plans in a variety of workshops. For example, Quaker Oats has expanded its continuous replenishment program to 15 customers. (See story, Page 1.) John Boynton, a company vice president, said, "We are committed to making ECR work for our consumers, our customers and our shareholders." Executives from Kroger Co., Spartan Stores and Wegmans Food Markets explained how they are laying the groundwork for ECR in their companies. Most of the ECR activity so far has dealt with efficient replenishment, the leading strategy in terms of potential cost savings. There have been noteworthy successes. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being saved, with more on the way. There doesn't seem to be much activity with efficient promotion, however. Dealing with such emotionally charged practices as forward buying, diverting and deductions will be a painstaking process.

Supermarket veteran Ron Lunde sees forward buying and diverting as roadblocks to ECR because as much as half of the profits for some companies stem from them. (See story, Page 2.) Sometime in the future, the industry will confront trade promotion. The sooner, the better. This will be the final conflict because it's an internal struggle of supplier against distributor. It will be time to make a stand that will benefit both sides and will ultimately turn the ECR vision into reality.