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HEARING THE CALL

MADISON, Wis. -- Listening and responding to members' needs is not new for the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association here, but the organization is listening even harder these days.And it is looking for ways to make sure it has the information its members can best use to do business more effectively.One fact-finding mission this year involved commissioning The Gallup Organization, Princeton,

MADISON, Wis. -- Listening and responding to members' needs is not new for the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association here, but the organization is listening even harder these days.

And it is looking for ways to make sure it has the information its members can best use to do business more effectively.

One fact-finding mission this year involved commissioning The Gallup Organization, Princeton, N.J., to do two consumer research studies. The results of the surveys, which focused on in-store bakery customers, will be presented at the upcoming IDDA expo and seminar June 18 to 20 in San Jose, Calif.

Finding out what members actually need and how to fulfill those needs is the biggest challenge ahead for the organization, said IDDA Executive Director Carol Christison.

In a preconvention interview, Christison discussed the upcoming seminar program, the way IDDA get feedback from members, and issues ahead for the dairy, deli and bakery in supermarkets. Here are highlights from that interview:

SN: What are the challenges ahead for IDDA this year, and beyond?

CHRISTISON: The biggest challenge that we face today is really a question of identifying the opportunities for us deliver the biggest return on our member's equity.

Any trade association is limited by the available resources, whether those are financial, staffing, or volunteer-driven. It's choosing the best way to use those resources is the really biggest challenge.

At IDDA, we look to the members to help us identify their needs.

For us, that means that we're going to continue to deliver on in-store training programs that are designed for the accidental employee vs. a career employee.

By accidental employee, I mean one who just happens to work in a supermarket as compared to a career baker or someone who went to a culinary school or trade school. When you hire off the street, so to speak, you need to have training programs that will quickly and efficiently teach the skills and selling techniques that will make that employee a productive team member.

Based on the over 5,000 supermarket employees who are already using one or more our training programs, we've got a good track record for identifying the needs and delivering a sustainable quality product.

SN: What are the major issues facing the industry this year?

CHRISTISON: The public is very confused about the whole issue of good food/bad food, healthful foods, low-fat foods, etc. As they're struggling to come to terms with how to eat what's good for them as well as what tastes good and is convenient to prepare, they read labels without real understanding, they make trade-offs without any real change in eating behaviors. They choose lighter versions of old favorites for one meal and head straight for the comfort foods of their youth for the next. Educating the public and showing them it doesn't have to be all or nothing will be a great challenge.

Other than that, we're seeing the same issues as in the recent past but with a little different packaging. Food safety, consumerism, quality vs. price, labor, training, ECR, labeling, nutrition awareness, product proliferation, all of those still offer plenty of food for thought.

SN: What new projects does IDDA have under way?

CHRISTISON: The biggest project is our Bakery Training and Certificate Program that will be completed this summer. We'll be premiering it at the seminar this month. It's design is very similar to the Deli Training and Certificate Program that we completed last year. The word-of-mouth on these products is so good they're practically selling themselves.

We've also got two new research projects that we'll be publishing this summer. Our Gallup study on the deli consumer was so well received last year, that we decided to do the same thing for the bakery consumer. We're looking at who they are, why they buy, where they buy, what they buy, and how to get them to buy more.

We also have a service quality study coming out. We held six consumer focus groups across the country, used those results to write a phone survey, and interviewed 1,000 consumers. We're looking for the consumer's expectation, satisfaction, disappointment, and motivation in shopping at in-store service departments. In addition to the published report, we're going to make some 12 hours of videotape of the focus groups available to our members.

SN: What makes your show different from other organizations' shows?

CHRISTISON: I guess the biggest difference is that we never wanted to be the biggest show in our industry. We just wanted to do the best job of serving our member groups in dairy, deli and bakery. Because we were not going after record numbers of registrants, we've been able to focus on those we do want and to do specific target marketing.

SN: What are your projections for attendance at this point?

CHRISTISON: We believe it will top last year's total of 5,000. Registrations are already running several hundred ahead of where they were at the same point last year. Our original hotel blocs sold out two months ago and we've added five new hotels. The expo

is sold out.

SN: Please comment on IDDA's

role in helping members comply with NLEA requirements.

CHRISTISON: We've published a newsletter called Labeling Alert for the last three years. It's provided in-depth coverage of issues and opportunities, resources, guidelines, etc. We also answer lots of calls about issues and requests for information. We have excellent resources at the FDA and have been very fortunate to have them as featured speakers on our program in the past. We continue to monitor developments and provide pertinent information to our members.

SN: Are there plans to team up with any other organization?

CHRISTISON: IDDA has several existing partnership arrangements with various sister organizations. These are all done on a project-by-project basis. Current and past programs have included all the regional dairy-deli-bakery associations, the Food Marketing Institute, the National Food Brokers Association, the American Meat Institute, the National Grocers Association, the National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association, etc.

SN: Does the added emphasis on bakery reflect the growth of the in-store bakery segment of the industry?

CHRISTISON: Our emphasis on bakery is a direct result of input from our members who have told us that they need this type of information. When corporate structures flatten, people are given more responsibility -- often in areas that seem logically connected. For example, if your responsibility is dairy-deli or deli-bakery, you want to attend a show that offers programming and product representation in both areas.

SN: How many members do you have and how has membership grown?

CHRISTISON: Right now, we have over 1,000 corporate members. These are companies, not individuals. When you look at individuals, we have over 40,000 active names on our data base. These are key people in dairy, deli and bakery.

SN: You have observed bakery/deli departments in Europe and will share observations with show attendees, but does one idea or merchandising strategy stand out that you think should be applied by supermarkets in this country?

CHRISTISON: It's real hard to single out one strategy. The European shopper has a very different mind set and buying behavior than the typical American shopper. There are so many European food customs that would do well here with the right market and right merchandising. Just one example is the sandwich market. It's virtually nonexistent here. In Europe, you can have 30 different fillings on 20 different breads. You can get open-faced gourmet sandwiches, stuffed sandwiches, finger-food sandwiches, panini, miniatures, everything.

SN: A consumer survey conducted for SN indicated supermarkets are floundering in their competitive struggle against fast-food eateries, and in their efforts to establish deli/food-service departments as destinations for consumers. Are you hearing frustration among your supermarket members over this, and how can the industry fare better in this regard?

CHRISTISON: I'd agree that there's dissatisfaction in the sales results. We've got to understand that there are some competitive and physical differences in the ability to compete with alternative food outlets. Again, it goes back to the question of focus. Fast-food providers are dealing with volume buyers that are using drive-throughs to get their food fast.

The retailer has to decide what he can do and how he wants to do it. There's no one answer that's going to fit every operation or make everyone happy.

In the consumer's mind, a supermarket is generally not uppermost as a "destination location" other than for grocery shopping or takeout food that they've had experience with.