PW: How do retailers’ packaging demands impact what you need from a contract packager?
Calhoun: The problem is not the customization. It is the lack of scale, with each customer wanting something different. The company does not have the capital or desire to invest in its own plants, let alone a contract packager’s facility. Therefore, when a contract packager develops a capability, it is incumbent upon them to get the word out to us.
PW: What conditions dictate your need for a contract packager, and how do you measure a co-packer’s performance?
Calhoun: Low volume and/or higher complexity dictate needs. Measurement is quality, consumer response, squareness of the package, total net-landed costs, and quality of customer service. We look at what we had to handle because the contract packager didn’t.
PW: How can a contract packager effectively sell itself to your company? Who is the point of contact?
Calhoun: I am the gatekeeper. I maintain a database of contractor capabilities and impression of operation, and then I call on the appropriate contractor as needed.
PW: How important for PepsiCo are long-term relationships with contract packagers?
Calhoun: It boils down to this: What have you done for me lately?
PW: Where is the biggest bottleneck in your company’s delivering packaging to market?
Calhoun: It is our company itself making decisions on final look and feel of the packaging. By the time the co-packer gets the project, time is nearly running out and it is rush, rush. —Jim George
