疫情期間，這家公司如何保證牛奶銷路
BETH KOWITT
2020-11-05
在奶牛處于產奶高峰期的“春潮”期遭遇新冠疫情，讓美國乳品行業苦不堪言。
就在奶牛產奶量最高的時候，學校和餐館紛紛關了門。乳制品主要出口一夜之間完全關閉，全國各地奶農不得不將牛奶倒掉。
但在規模達140億美元的農民合作社藍多湖公司，其成員要幸運得多。“我們非常感激，因為無論從情感上還是經濟上來說，被迫倒掉牛奶都是巨大的打擊，”美國乳制品公司藍多湖高級副總裁希瑟?安芳本周在《重塑》節目中表示，該播客主要講述疫情顛覆的世界中努力奮斗的故事。
本集播客深入探究了為何今春消費者看到似乎矛盾的現象。一方面由于購物者囤積商品，商店貨架上空空如也。另一方面，農民卻在銷毀沒有銷路的產品。
與此同時，藍多湖為1700多個會員的牛奶找到了出路。疫情之前，約40%的業務均流向食品服務業，比如大袋碎奶酪或奶酪醬。疫情來襲時，這塊業務消失了。
安芳說：“我們不得不重新審視，牛奶在哪，流向哪里，現在最相關的產品是什么，都是難題。”
為了解決難題，藍多湖決定回歸基礎生產。合作社縮減了商品數量，以擴大產量。將重心調整至核心產品后，生產線可以用來長時間制作大件產品，而不必停下來制作小產品。“簡單調整后工廠就能提升黃油產量，進而消化掉更多的牛奶，”安芳說。
藍多湖還將平時供應給餐飲業的產品轉向雜貨店銷售。例如，零售商通常會將一磅黃油分成四塊出售。而超市為了滿足消費者的需求，也非常樂意出售餐館用的一磅重黃油。
安芳說，今年藍多湖將出售“大量黃油，遠遠超出預期”，但“波動很劇烈，”她補充道。“如果黃油賣給零售店，就知道這個團隊銷量相當紅火。如果要向學校出售50磅一袋的芝士通心粉，現在的銷量并不多。”（財富中文網）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
在奶牛處于產奶高峰期的“春潮”期遭遇新冠疫情，讓美國乳品行業苦不堪言。
就在奶牛產奶量最高的時候，學校和餐館紛紛關了門。乳制品主要出口一夜之間完全關閉，全國各地奶農不得不將牛奶倒掉。
但在規模達140億美元的農民合作社藍多湖公司，其成員要幸運得多。“我們非常感激，因為無論從情感上還是經濟上來說，被迫倒掉牛奶都是巨大的打擊，”美國乳制品公司藍多湖高級副總裁希瑟?安芳本周在《重塑》節目中表示，該播客主要講述疫情顛覆的世界中努力奮斗的故事。
本集播客深入探究了為何今春消費者看到似乎矛盾的現象。一方面由于購物者囤積商品，商店貨架上空空如也。另一方面，農民卻在銷毀沒有銷路的產品。
與此同時，藍多湖為1700多個會員的牛奶找到了出路。疫情之前，約40%的業務均流向食品服務業，比如大袋碎奶酪或奶酪醬。疫情來襲時，這塊業務消失了。
安芳說：“我們不得不重新審視，牛奶在哪，流向哪里，現在最相關的產品是什么，都是難題。”
為了解決難題，藍多湖決定回歸基礎生產。合作社縮減了商品數量，以擴大產量。將重心調整至核心產品后，生產線可以用來長時間制作大件產品，而不必停下來制作小產品。“簡單調整后工廠就能提升黃油產量，進而消化掉更多的牛奶，”安芳說。
藍多湖還將平時供應給餐飲業的產品轉向雜貨店銷售。例如，零售商通常會將一磅黃油分成四塊出售。而超市為了滿足消費者的需求，也非常樂意出售餐館用的一磅重黃油。
安芳說，今年藍多湖將出售“大量黃油，遠遠超出預期”，但“波動很劇烈，”她補充道。“如果黃油賣給零售店，就知道這個團隊銷量相當紅火。如果要向學校出售50磅一袋的芝士通心粉，現在的銷量并不多。”（財富中文網）
譯者：梁宇
審校：夏林
COVID-19 hit at the worst possible time for the dairy industry—during what’s known in the sector as “spring flush,” when cows are at the height of their milk production.
Just as the cows reached their most productive time, schools and restaurants shut down. A major outlet for dairy products evaporated overnight, forcing farmers around the country to dump their milk.
But at Land O’Lakes, a $14 billion farmer-owned cooperative, its members were spared. “We’re grateful and thankful for that, because it’s emotionally and financially devastating to have to dump milk,” says Heather Anfang, senior vice president of U.S. dairy foods at Land O’Lakes, on this week’s episode of Reinvent, a podcast about fighting to thrive in a world turned upside down by COVID-19.
The episode digs into a supply chain that left consumers with seemingly contradictory images this spring: On the one hand, there were empty store shelves as shoppers stockpiled goods. And on the other, farmers were destroying products they were unable to sell.
Land O’Lakes, meanwhile, was able to find a home for its more than 1,700 members’ milk—despite the fact that pre-coronavirus, about 40% of Land O’Lakes business came from items that it sold to the food service industry like enormous bags of shredded cheese or cheese sauce. When the pandemic hit, that business disappeared.
“We had to really step back and look,” says Anfang. “It’s a bit of a puzzle—where’s the milk, where’s it going, and what are the products that are now most relevant.”
To solve that puzzle, Land O’Lakes went back to basics. It scaled back on the number of items it produced so the co-op could pump out more volume. By just focusing on its core goods, it could run bigger items for longer on its production lines because it wasn’t stopping and starting for smaller items. “That simple thing allows you to get more butter out, to get more milk through the plant,” Anfang says.
Land O’Lakes also took items that it normally supplies to food service and instead sold them to grocers. For example, retailers typically sell one-pound blocks of butter separated into four sticks. But supermarkets were so desperate to keep up with consumer demand that they were willing to sell the one-pound block of butter used by restaurants.
Anfang says that Land O’Lakes will sell “significant butter this year, much more than we would have anticipated.” But the “swings have been very dramatic,” she adds. “If you’re selling butter to retail, you know that team is on fire. If you’re selling 50-pound bags of mac and cheese to school, there’s not a lot of sales happening right now.”
