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STUDY: KRAFT FIGHTS FOR POWER

WILTON, Conn. -- Kraft practically tied Procter & Gamble Co. as the most powerful manufacturer, and beat it in the areas of best sales force and innovative marketing, according to the 2001 PoweRanking survey by Cannondale Associates, a consulting firm here.According to the survey, 35.3% of retailers named P&G the top manufacturer, while 35.2% cited Kraft. Rounding out the Top 10 were General Mills

WILTON, Conn. -- Kraft practically tied Procter & Gamble Co. as the most powerful manufacturer, and beat it in the areas of best sales force and innovative marketing, according to the 2001 PoweRanking survey by Cannondale Associates, a consulting firm here.

According to the survey, 35.3% of retailers named P&G the top manufacturer, while 35.2% cited Kraft. Rounding out the Top 10 were General Mills (17%), Frito-Lay (14.5%), Coca-Cola (13.5%), Pepsi-Cola and Nabisco (both 12.2%), Anheuser-Busch (7.6%), Unilever (6.9%) and Pillsbury (6.7%).

Now in its fourth year, the PoweRanking showed a significant power shift among manufacturers. Along with Kraft's close gain on P&G, Nabisco (now a division of Kraft), Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi-Cola also made significant advancements, moving up 2.6%, 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

Four key factors were identified as common traits among the best manufacturers: strong brand share, broad innovation, good cash use and strong customer relationships.

When asked which manufacturers have the best sales force/customer teams, 33.1% cited Kraft. While this was a 7.4% decrease from last year, P&G's rating was 26.3%, a 14.2% drop, putting it into the No. 2 position. The study attributed P&G's slip, in part, to the outsourcing of retail.

At the same time, direct-store-delivery companies made strong gains in this area. Among them were Frito-Lay (which ranked No. 3), Nabisco (6) and Pepsi-Cola (7), whose rankings climbed 8.8%, 4.9% and 2.9%, respectively.

"Frito-Lay is getting the recognition they deserve as a valued selling organization," an unidentified retailer said in the report. "When it comes to the snack business, Frito-Lay's sales force is highly competitive."

When asked which manufacturers have the most innovative marketing programs and approach, 30.4% (unchanged from last year) said Kraft, which Cannondale attributed to its meal-solutions theme. Meanwhile 22.8% (a 10.1% drop) said P&G and 21.6% (down 1.7%) said General Mills. The study warned, however, that the big three are in competition with big DSD companies, including Nabisco (No. 5), Pepsi-Cola (6) and Coca-Cola (4), whose ratings increased 6.8%, 4.8% and 3.6%, respectively.

"Nabisco came to use with great (point-of-sale) programs this year," an unidentified retailer said. "They are better than I've seen from them in a long time. They also demonstrated a real understanding of our business."

Meanwhile, the top retailers as rated by manufacturers are Wal-Mart (66.2%), Safeway (31.8%), Kroger (28.9%), H-E-B (23.8%), Target (18.6%), Wegman's (16.3%), Ahold (14.3%), Publix (14.2%), Albertson's (10.2%) and Costco (8.8%).