ORLANDO, Fla. -- Efficient Consumer Response should help stabilize grocery prices and reduce the lower-cost benefit that many private-label items now enjoy, said two executives speaking at the ninth annual Information Resources Inc. Apollo Users Group International conference.
"I tend to think the gap between branded and private label will narrow and not increase as a result of ECR," said Jim Hooks, vice president of trade development at Continental Baking Co., St. Louis.
Rich Sherman, senior vice president of LogicNet, a division of IRI, said, "We'll see more of the manufacturers and clearing houses being much more focused on branded manufacturers reducing the cost of operations and being able to bring that branded product in line with private-label pricing and take that pricing advantage off. "At the same time, the private-label cost of operations is going to rise as their delivery becomes more costly, the inventory begins to rise and they have the same cost of operation issues as the brands currently have," he said.
