Tiger Brands Integrated Annual Report 2015

 

Our key factors driving our strategy

Our key relationships

The group recognises that positive relationships with all key stakeholders are essential to its sustainability. For a business to perform optimally, people need to be keen to work for, buy from, supply to, invest in and partner with that business. Our ability to nurture and maintain positive stakeholder relationships is therefore a strategic priority.

Our values

• Our consumers are our business.
• We act with integrity in everything we do.
• We have a passion for excellence.
• We value our people and treat them with dignity.
• We continue to reinvest in our society.

We actively create opportunities for stakeholders to interact with Tiger Brands. Direct employee interaction is facilitated through staff conferences and information is shared through various internal communication channels. We communicate with consumers, investors and other key stakeholders through our consumer help line, corporate and brand websites, social media channels, investor contact centre and through investor presentations, conferences and roadshows. We participate in various industry events, associations and governmental forums.

		Key issues in 2015		Our response		Read more
Customers (retailers/ wholesalers)		Muted consumer demand and intense pricing competition		Joint business planning initiatives with customers to stimulate consumer demand and optimise category growth		20
Employees		Impact of increasing competition on business performance Remuneration and incentives Job security		Proactively engage with employees to discuss management actions to address competitive challenges and obtain their commitment through appropriate performance incentives		53
Consumers		Product affordability		Mitigate inflationary pressures through cost-saving initiatives and operational efficiencies Provide value-for-money offerings including affordable and convenient pack sizes and value-added products		22, 51
Community		Food security and related nutritional issues		Maintain strong partnerships with governments and developmental agencies to support initiatives that promote nutritional health and education, and contribute to the development of local communities and eradication of poverty		51, 60
Investors		Turnaround of underperforming divisions Profitable growth and return on capital		Continued focus on the health of our brands and quality of our products, drive cost savings to deliver sustainable, profitable growth Ensure long-term growth through premium value-added products and extending our brands into adjacent categories and markets while managing downside risks		28, 30, 32, 40
Government		Regulations on packaging Promoting nutritional awareness Food security		Keeping abreast of emerging issues and actively participate in dialogue prior to the promulgation of legislation		52
Media		Access to management and information		Conduct media engagement sessions to share information Increased Tiger Brands’ media profile		52
Suppliers		Optimising costs to enhance competitiveness Impact of currency weakness on input costs Crop shortages due to weather and commercial considerations		Win-win partnerships to ensure sustainable growth and security of supply Partner with suppliers to drive innovation and continuous improvement initiatives		52

Optimising customer relationships

The South African market has evolved rapidly over the years and is mature and concentrated in size. This has significant implications for Tiger Brands in its quest to drive growth in the domestic market.

Retail markets in five stages

With a highly concentrated retail trade, powerful wholesale sector and fragmented general trade, understanding the needs of our customers and shoppers is paramount to achieving our strategic goals.

Tiger Brands has made good progress in key areas of our customer strategy:

• Investment in handheld technology for operational intelligence and insights that drive growth and efficiencies at the point of purchase
• Field sales teams provide live data to support actions on-shelf availability, pricing and promotions
• New apps being developed to speed up communication to retail stores and ensure the effective execution of shopper marketing campaigns
• Improving core customer skills through our customer academy
• Optimised investment with customers in key categories
• Our customer managers were rated first in South Africa for trade relationships by Objectivity Research

Joint business plans with all key retailers will drive the group’s growth strategy. Our customer strategy therefore considers key retail trends, as shown below, and the needs of our customers to ensure strategy execution:

Building on our progress to date, we have identified the strategic priorities for the next five years that will optimise our customers’ growth, as well as our own.

			Growing with customers		Growing in store		Operational excellence and execution		Great place to work
			Channel, customer and format strategy		Next generation Tiger Brands field sales		Optimising route-to-market Trade category management		Customer, shopper and operational capabi
		Harmonising customer operations in the field across all categories Customer IT and insight system Joint business planning Building a growth culture in customer teams