As a former, laid off Kelloggs Account Manager I am going to give it to you straight. Although it breaks my heart that all the sales force is going to get laid off, you have to look at this realistically. The Kelloggs snacks/DSD businesses have been in a steady decline for years. Cookies for example BARELY sell anymore. People are just eating different. It is just the way it is. The DSD model is just too expensive to support dying product lines. Everybody in DSD works very hard and this is all very sad but unfortunately it is just the way everything is going based on changing consumer trends.
11 replies (most recent on top)
when I was a rep in the early 90's people were not buying cookies and crackers made by Keebler. Nabisco has oreos, wheat thins, triscuit, ritz, saltines, chips ahoy, fig newtons, etc. the Nabisco reps told the store mangers what was on sale and the manager told them where the display was to go. not so with Keebler. people were not buying the product then and they are not buying it now. PERIOD
When a company as big as Kelloggs decides not pay for endcaps and cannot even supply enough cardboard for theme displays to provide the sales reps of course you are going to lose market share and the competition is going to take over.They were always finding ways to cut costs at the expense of putting the product in front of the customer so it serves them right to fail and will continue to fail as long as they have a CEO as greedy as they have now.I think he has sunk the ship to far to be righted again and he will leave with millions in his bank account with a company left in destruction.
Haha. Funny! The last time I looked in the back of the Nabisco truck, it was full! 3 pallets of product coming in at deliveries in major accounts, and that's TWICE a week! Now the TRUTH....... I've been doing this for 35 years.... Kellogg CEO'S are greedy, PERIOD! They never changed with the times and built their brands like Keebler did. Innovate the public to death and then eat all the BAD innovation crap they pushed on us all! Create "mega centers" and had their driver driving all over the place and passing other route drivers all the time! All in the same time when fuel prices were high! DUH?????? What did you think was going to happen. Making hourly people work 55 to 60 hrs a week AND the price to run these trucks all over the place?????? Then to run skeleton crews and run these people to death???? What were these fools thinking??? It was just a matter of time. Then ran around and put bandaids on holes so big, there was no way to repair what THEY created! FACT; MANAGEMENT IS AT FAULT! NOT THE WORKERS! GL ALL! IM OUT!
No...in my area Keebler cookies are often on sale $1.88 And they sell 4-8 cases maybe 10...the Zone demands ordering in 30-45 cases for the sale that just sit in the backroom...Again it has nothing to do with Trump (who I support BTW), or a recession, or "bad account managers". When you pass a young couple (under 30) shopping in the supermarket just take a quick glance at their shopping cart. More often than not it has Kale, quinoa, frozen meals, water, fruit etc in it. These people are not buying, Keebler, Mondelez, Frito-Lay, Pepsi, Coke. I get it. Everybody is upset they are losing their jobs understandably. My point is it has less to do with Kelloggs senior management and more do to with the state of packaged food products as they relate to consumers today
Not true: look at Nabisco Chips Ahoy and Oreos, they ALWAYS have them on sale, very cheap like $1.99 or 2/$3.00, and Chips Deluxe, Sandies, Fudge Shoppe at a ridiculous everyday price at Albertsons or Vons for like $3.99. No wonder they never sell. Kelloggs had very poor account managers that don't know what they are doing which began the downfall of DSD!!!
Atleast with trump we got a pro business pro growth pres in office going to take awhile to undo the Obama mess for 8 yrs
News flash people.
Consumer trends aren't changing, the economy is falling into a recession.
Those cookie buyers didn't decide to become healthy eating fruit buyers, they simply cannot afford luxuries like store bought cookies.
Take your head out of your own myopic four wall company and look around.
43 million on Food stamps. Do you really believe they're all "Lazy no good __'s!"
You just got laid off from a major food company whose business has been in decline for years, by your own admission.
When will it dawn on you the economy is faltering? Nevermind the lies we're told by the media and government about how great things are. Reality does not back up that narrative.
You are probably right
Losing 53 mill last quarter doesn't help the cause either.the brands will die even further by going to the wharehouse model I think Kellogg is setting themselves up to sell of the brands within a yr
But the thing is...and I totally respect your points...in another year or two it is not going to make any difference. The decline on Breakfast Bars, Cookies, Pringles Crackers other than Cheez-Its etc is going to be so bad it is not going to make any difference whether the stores half a** the merchandising. Even if they do 40% of what an excellent DSD sales force does, based on low sales it will probably make more economic sense to put the product through the warehouse sadly.
I understand what u said consumer trends are changing but I don't think the answer is to retail companies to control your business because they won't be looking out for u. I see further decline in sales and shelf space and out of stocks . Just walk the isle at Walmart and u will know why