Elen Lewis talks to Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose about doing the right thing
What’s the most valuable lesson you picked up in your career?
Everybody in business plays a vital role in its success. It’s the dawning realisation that I can only be as good as the last Waitrose cashier who looked after you. You can have the best strategy in the world but everyone is responsible for making it a success. So, internal messages and respect are really important. In Waitrose, everyone is a partner in the business so it’s all the more powerful.
What’s the best decision you ever made?
To marry Mrs Price.
The worst decision you ever made?
Supporting Crewe Alexandra football club.
Waitrose’s positioning as a retailer that does the right thing is perfectly in tune with the concerns of today’s consumers. Is this a lucky coincidence or perfectly planned?
It’s a bit of both. There’s no doubt that our values have become more important to people. Being a good citizen, doing the right thing and thinking about all our stakeholders increasingly chimes true. Recently, other companies have seen the economic and political benefit in being green.
Do you believe that Waitrose will continue to differentiate itself from competition as other retailers leap onto the ‘good food’ bandwagon?
The simple answer is yes. Our sole focus is to make sure we give the best products and the best service. Other retailers have a more diverse range of issues. The big four supermarkets have all extended into other merchandise, whereas we’re very focused on the best food. As a pure food operator we’re clearly differentiated.
What food issues do you believe are going to increase in importance?
I think provenance, sustainability and social conscience are going to grow in importance.
As a former marketer who has risen to a senior management position, what advice would you offer to other marketers keen to lead their brands?
Keep your head down and work hard. And appreciate the importance of all the other divisions in delivering success.
How are you finding your new position as blogger?
It’s light relief and only takes me five minutes. I normally write something in the car going to work. Yesterday there were 20,000 visitors to my blog, more visitors than to the Crewe Alex ground! But seriously I write the blog because I think a lot of people see Waitrose as a stuffy brand and I don’t think we are, so it’s nice if we can demonstrate our lighter side. And second, we are good at providing healthy food.
Doing the right thing is commendable but also difficult.
I don’t think it’s hard but it means we take big profit hits. For example, we sell our milk for the same price as other retailers but our dairy farmers get a bigger premium. Similarly, we’ve made commitments to our beef and lamb farmers who are going through hard times. We make these decisions because we’re supportive of British farmers. It means we take a margin hit in the short term but in the long term it’s the right thing to do because it’s about building great relationships with our suppliers.
Mark Price will be speaking at The Marketing Society’s Retail Forum Dinner on 19th May.